When I Remember This Life
by Takenokohime
Summary: Annie Leonhart is a fierce warrior dedicated to her mission, along with her companions Bertholt Hoover and Reiner Braun. But what happens when Annie starts to become conflicted about her duties as she develops a close friendship with fellow recruit Eren Jaeger? (Not good at summaries...) Rated M for language as well as eventual violence and suggestive situations.
1. Chapter 1: Duty

**Author Notes: Hi everyone! I'm Takenokohime, and this is my first fanfic (nervously tugs at collar). I wanted to write about Annie since she's one of my favorite characters from Attack on Titan and write about her backstory and her experiences during the main action in the series. I can't say how long this'll end up being, but I plan on covering the story from the 104th Trainees Arc through the Female Titan Arc. This will mostly be from Annie's perspective, but I may change it up a little later. Please review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or any associated characters. **

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Chapter 1: Duty

_The Leonhart family has been around for centuries and descends from a line of powerful warriors. We seek to protect the world and to defend what is right. -Annie's journal_

The light of dawn had only just begun creeping in through the windows of the cabin, but Annie Leonhart had been awake for hours. It was another sleepless night for the young woman. She sat up on her cot and looked around the room. She was sharing it with her two close friends, Reiner Braun and Bertholt Hoover. The three had been given a single room to share at an inn, since the three were still children when they arrived in Trost two years ago. Reiner was sleeping like a rock, snoring softly. Bertholt, on the other hand, was a light sleeper who had to sleep on his back silently.

Annie shook her head, got off of the cot, and walked over to her belongings. She dug through them until she found a small journal, then walked back over to her cot. She opened the small leather-bound book and began flipping through the pages, smiling sadly. Inside were writings, pictures, drawings, and various other little trinkets. A picture of two young people, a dark-haired man and a blonde woman, on their wedding day. Another of the couple's three children: two blonde smiling daughters and a disinterested son with dark hair. The dark-haired man with his youngest daughter, both grinning wildly. The blonde woman cradling the youngest daughter when she was a newborn baby. A goofy love-note the dark-haired man sent to the blonde woman when they were teenagers. An epitaph next to a bundle of pressed flowers.

Annie wiped away tears as she looked at the last few pages of the journal. The family was once happy but things are so different now. _No_, Annie thought, _you can't let your emotions cloud your thinking, especially on a day like today_. Annie was not one to let people see her be emotional, and she herself often got angry with herself when she got emotional.

Unaware of how much time had passed while she was looking through her journal, she was surprised to find that Bertholt and Reiner were now awake. Awake and arguing, to be exact.

"Reiner, you know how much I hate it when you hit me with a pillow!" Bertholt scolded. The taller of the two, Bertholt could be quite intimidating when angry simply because of his size. However, Bertholt was quite a push-over when it came to actual fights.

Reiner, on the other hand, was very stocky and muscular, but was less intimidating due to his good-natured personality. "Sorry Bertl, I thought you said you wanted a wake up call! Well, you had your wake up call!" Reiner said, laughing.

Bertholt scowled. "I wanted a wake up call but I didn't want a pillow to the face!"

Annie rolled her eyes at the two. "You two are so immature sometimes. Can't you just behave for once?"

"Oh, lighten up Annie! We're just having some fun!" Reiner said.

"I wasn't-" Bertholt began before Reiner smacked him in the face with a pillow again.

Annie walked over to her belongings and gathered up her clothes. "Today's the day that the military is recruiting, remember? Now hurry up and gather your stuff. We need to be ready to leave soon."

Reiner stared at her. "Can't we just...not? We already caused so much damage and cost so many people their lives. I can't deal with having any more blood on my hands."

"We know the coordinate is out there though. We have to find it and retrieve it," Bertholt said softly.

Annie stared at them. "You two can leave if you want, but for me it's not that simple."

Bertholt and Reiner glanced at each other then began to gather up their clothes and other belongings. Annie grabbed her white sweatshirt and brown pants, then went under the sheets of her cot to change. She could hear the rustling of Bertholt and Reiner changing into their day clothes, and once she stopped hearing noise she pulled the sheets off of her. To finish packing Annie grabbed her leather and canvas sack that she brought from her old home and placing her clothes in one by one. Once all the clothes were in the sack, Annie flipped to the picture of the dark-haired man with his young daughter in her journal one last time before putting it in her sack as well.

"Our mission's starting, Dad. I'll see you again soon," Annie said quietly, touching the picture.


	2. Chapter 2: Joining

**Author's Notes: Here's chapter 2! I know that these first couple chapters are sort of short, but they will get longer as the story goes on, I promise. As always, I hope you all enjoy and please review and follow/favorite if you like the story! Finally, thanks Shadow-Shinobi666 for your review!**

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Chapter 2: Joining

_The family name "Leonhart" allegedly comes from a corruption of the title "Lion-Heart" or "Lion-Hearted". It was a title often given to nobility, particularly warriors who proved to be valiant on the battlefield, in the era before the Titans. -Annie's journal_

The recruiting officers were not the friendliest people in the world. In fact, they seemed to be a strange mix of apathetic and hostile. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholt looked on as a young man sulked away from the officers.

"Tough crowd," Reiner said, hoping to lighten the mood.

Bertholt began to sweat nervously as he watched another boy be torn apart by the recruiting officers. "Yeah, haha. What do you think our chances are?"

"Depends on how they think of us, I suppose. If we make a good impression then we'll have a better chance of being accepted," Annie said.

She took a hair band out of her hoodie pocket and tied her loose, short blonde hair into a messy bun. "Making a good impression means looking presentable. You two might want to check your appearances before speaking to the officers."

Reiner shrugged and walked up to the recruitment line while Bertholt nervously played with his shirt collar and hair. Once Annie felt she looked alright, she joined Reiner in the line. _Hopefully they'll take me seriously enough to let me join, even if I am sort of short_, Annie thought. She never really concerned herself with physical appearance but this was one time she wanted to look presentable.

The line continued moving up at a slow pace, and Annie began taking note of some of the other people enlisting. There was a boy with light brown hair who kept talking about how he'd work for the military police. Bragging, more like it. The person ahead of him, a blond boy with brown eyes, kept trying to ignore him. There was a girl with dark hair, wearing a red scarf, standing by quietly. Next to her were two boys around the same age, one with shaggy blond hair and giant blue eyes, the other had olive skin, dark brown hair, and vibrant green eyes. The blond kid with giant eyes seemed nervous about being here, while the green eyed one seemed oddly enthusiastic. _I can't imagine anyone being that excited to enlist_, Annie thought, _joining an organization where you'll either die before age thirty or live inside these walls and never see any action._ _Who could be excited about that?_

"Next!" barked the recruiting officer. He was a short, balding older man who seemed to have a grudge against young people.

Reiner walked up to the recruitment and stood calmly.

"Name!"

"Reiner Braun," Reiner replied.

"Age!"

"Fourteen."

"Hometown!"

"A farming village, just outside the Walls. It got destroyed in the attack on Shiganshina."

The recruitment officer eyed him for a minute, then made a note on a sheet of paper beside him. He then resumed the questioning.

"Height and weight!"

"Height is one meter, seventy-seven centimeters. Weight is eighty-two kilograms."

"Why do you wish to join the military!"

Reiner paused for a second. "I wish to serve the good of humanity," he replied eventually.

The grumpy recruitment officer stared at Reiner a little longer, as if sizing him up. Finally he took a form off a stack of papers and shoved it at Reiner. "Be at the training camp by 6 am sharp, and look alive when you get there!"

Reiner walked past Annie and Bertholt smiling. "I see that went well," Bertholt said.

Annie walked up a place in line and stood before the old, grouchy recruitment officer. She glared at the officer who seemed to be thinking that she had to have been crazy for deciding to enlist.

"Well well, little lady. Deciding to enlist?" he said in a dismissive tone.

"Yes. It is my duty to serve the good of all by offering my services to the military," Annie replied bluntly.

"Very well...name?"

"My name is Annie Leonhart. I'm thirteen years old, and I come from the same village that Reiner Braun comes from. As he said, it was destroyed in the attack on Shiganshina. My height is one and a quarter meters, and my weight is forty-eight kilograms. And before you ask why I want to join the military I already said that it's my duty to serve the good of everyone," Annie said, glaring at the officer.

The officer looked at Annie, dumbstruck by her attitude. Annie sucked her lower lip, waiting for him to do something. Finally he handed her the paper, then timidly said "Next."

Annie smirked as she walked away from the officer. _That will show him_. _I'm probably a better fighter than half the people enlisting anyway. I've had actual training, unlike most of these people._

Bertholt had his turn with the officer and returned, smiling slightly as he held his paper. "Are we all in?"

Reiner and Annie nodded their heads. "Want to go grab some food? This will probably be the last decent dinner we'll have in a while," Reiner suggested

"Sure," Annie said.

The three walked off in the direction of a local pub, counting up their money to see if they had enough to afford a nice dinner.


	3. Chapter 3: Rememberances

**Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for all the follow's and favorites! I'm a little surprised honestly that my story has gotten this many people reading it so quickly! As a heads up, this chapter is somewhat cannon-divergent, but I'm still going off facts already established in the series. I felt that having our current trio discuss what their life back in their hometown could help build their characters more. Plus *SPOILERS* we know that there are more shifters out there, and that at least one other shifter would have gone with these three if he hadn't been eaten. *END SPOILER* Ok, now that the important spoiler warning and content warning is out of the way, please enjoy! And please review and follow/favorite if you enjoy the story!**

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Chapter 3: Rememberances

_The symbol of the Leonhart family is a blue shield with a gold lion on it. Lions were large cats that were once common throughout much of the world, but have not been seen in many years. They likely are still alive, but it is too dangerous to venture out to find one. The family motto also appears on the shield. This motto, written in a dead language called Latin, roughly translates to "The Conquering Lion of the East." -Annie's journal_

Reiner was devouring what seemed to be a whole chicken in front of Annie and Bertholt. Annie looked at Reiner, disgusted by how someone could eat so much so quickly. Bertholt was trying to ignore Reiner's eating by focusing on his own meal of squab and root vegetables.

"Do you think we'll see any of the others from back home?" Reiner said through a mouthful of food.

"Could you please swallow what you have in your mouth before talking?" Annie muttered.

Immediately Reiner swallowed his mouthful and began talking again. "It would be nice to see people from back home, in my opinion. I know more people than just the three of us arrived during the event in Shiganshina."

Bertholt looked up from his food. "I agree it would be nice, but as far as I know we're the only ones who are in Trost."

"Three to four people were assigned to each major district of Wall Rose. It's possible we may see them during training, but it depends on how many people have enlisted. I'm sure there are hundreds," Annie replied.

"It would be kind of nice to see Dominika again. She and I were so close as kids. I just wish we'd been assigned to the same district," Reiner said wistfully.

"Dominika is your cousin, right?" Annie asked.

Reiner nodded. "We grew up together and were pretty much inseparable. I haven't seen her since the Shiganshina incident."

"What does Dominika look like, if you don't mind me asking?" Bertholt asked.

"Um, tall, light olive skin, same hair and eye color as me," Reiner replied. "I have a picture of us from a year before the incident. I can show you that later. Anyone you want to see again, Bertholt?"

"My step-brothers and step-sister. Dietrich, Björn, and Edith. They're all a few years older than us so I probably won't see them unless I somehow join whichever branch they're in," Bertholt sighed. "That is, if they actually enlisted. I know Dietrich never had much interest in fighting, so it wouldn't surprise me if he settled down somewhere."

Reiner and Bertholt looked at Annie now. "Is there anyone you hope to see, Annie?" Reiner asked.

Annie tensed up. Her mind went back to their home village, to her home. There were people she missed, of course. People who she hoped to see again. People who had gone with them during the fall of Shiganshina. _No. I can't think of them right now. They're gone, and I can't do anything about it. I just have to focus on what's happening now._ Annie felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.

"No. There isn't anyone I really hope to see," she said in a hoarse voice.

Reiner seemed confused. "What about Amelia and Aug-"

Bertholt cut him off. "Reiner, if she doesn't want to talk about it she doesn't have to."

Annie got up from her seat and began walking to the door of the pub. "I have to go outside for a minute. I need to be alone," she whispered.

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A few minutes later Annie was sitting outside in front of the pub with her knees up to rest her arms on. Her head was buried in her arms, and she was sobbing.

Of course she missed people from back home! Of course she wanted to see them again! It had been two years since she had seen the people who mattered to her the most, and it became more and more difficult to think about them without breaking down. She was amazed that she had made it this long without having a more serious breakdown.

Annie lifted her head and pulled out a small picture from the pocket of her hoodie. It had the same dark-haired man and blonde woman in the pictures from her journal, as well as the couple's children. The blonde woman had the youngest child, a girl of around two, sitting on her lap while the older daughter stood behind them. Her husband stood off to the side, with their son in front of him. They were all smiling and looked very happy.

Annie gently touched the image of the younger daughter with her finger, and smiled slightly. "I looked so happy when I was younger," Annie laughed softly. _Maybe someday I can be happy again_...

Annie looked up and saw some people looking at her as they walked by. She wiped her eyes off with her sleeve and sat up against the wall of the building. _I have to calm down. I don't need these people to feel sorry for me_. She rubbed her eyes and put her picture back in her hoodie pocket.

_Dad, my brother, my sister. I miss them so much._ Annie let out a deep sigh and stared at the sky after that thought. In all the time she had been gone she hadn't acknowledged her brother or sister. It wasn't that she didn't care for them, it was that it hurt too much to think about them. She could think about their father, he was her motivation for going on this mission, but her brother and sister were just people she had lost along the way. She wasn't in the same position as Reiner or Bertholt, who had most members of their families waiting for them back home. All she had was her father waiting for her. Her brother and sister had gone in with them during the attack on Shiganshina, but by the end of the attack she couldn't find either of them. Her sister was probably killed in the attack, and who knows what happened to her brother. _At least I still have Dad. He said he would always be there for me._

Annie got up walked into the pub again, avoiding eye contact with the other patrons in case any of them had seen her cry. Annie was a strong person and hated it when people caught her being emotional. She took her seat back at the table with Bertholt and Reiner, staring down at her food. She took a spoonful of her rabbit stew and slurped it up, ignoring the boys.

"Annie, are you okay?" Bertholt asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Annie replied flatly. "Finish eating. We should head out soon. If we have to be to the training grounds by seven, we need to make sure we get enough rest."

Bertholt and Reiner exchanged a nervous glance then finished what was left of their food. The meal had cost nearly all their money, but it was worth it to have a good meal before three years of sub-par dining. Once the three had finished their meal and paid, they found a small inn that could spare a room for the three before they left for training tomorrow. The room was smaller than their old one, and there was only one bed. The boys took the bed while Annie pulled out a few blankets and a pillow to make sleeping on the floor more comfortable. She crawled under one of the blankets and rested her head on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. _As soon as this mission is over, I can go home and be with Dad again. I can be happy again, _Annie thought as she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Beginings

**Author's Notes: First off, thank you so much everyone who is following my story. I'm so glad to see that people are enjoying what I write! So this is the chapter where we start meeting the other members of the 104th Trainee Corps, and I hope I've done a good job of capturing what the story's main three would first think of their fellow recruits. Finally, I'm going to start working on some cover art for this story over the weekend so hopefully I'll have it done within the next couple chapters! And as always, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

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Chapter 4: Beginnings

_Hand to hand combat comes naturally to most members of the Leonhart family. Despite most people born into the Leonhart family being below average height, we all possess surprising strength and agility. This greatly helps during armed combat as well. Combined with our shifting abilities, members of the Leonhart family are the ultimate warriors. -Annie's Journal_

Annie, Bertholt, and Reiner arrived at the training grounds around five-fifty in the morning so they could be ready for the physical inspection. The trio had found a supply crate to hang around by while they waited to be called. Annie sat on the crate, staring off into the distance, Reiner stretched and complained about how uncomfortable the bed had been, and Bertholt paced around nervously. The others began trickling in as the hour approached. There was the overly-enthusiastic green-eyed boy again with his black-haired female friend and huge-eyed male friend. The braggy light-brown haired boy was here. Some new faces showed up as well. A girl with reddish brown hair eating...something...A perky blonde girl skipping around a stern-faced brunette.

"Think she as much as Reiner?" Annie asked Bertholt as she pointed to the girl eating.

Reiner gave Annie a look. "Oh haha, very funny. I only eat a lot in comparison to you two!"

Annie spotted the green-eyed boy again. He was shouting about something to his female friend, but Annie couldn't make out what he was saying. "Bertl, what do you think that boy is talking about?" Annie asked.

Bertholt stuck his tongue out at Annie for calling him "Bertl", a nickname he hated. He then moved a little closer to where the green-eyed boy was standing to listen in.

"Um, something about how he's going to kill all Titans and be the savior of humanity I think? Dunno, he seems sort of...delusional..." Bertholt replied.

"The military doesn't always choose the sanest people. Just the people who have the most enthusiasm to kill," Annie said.

Annie studied the green-eyed boy some more while he talked with his friends. He seemed cocky, very cocky. And hyper. The huge-eyed kid was nervously laughing along while the girl was just sort of standing by. The smaller boy seemed a little afraid of him. _Ha, maybe we could get along. We both enjoy intimidating people it seems._

"HI!" a loud female voice suddenly said.

Annie looked down and a girl with black hair in pig-tails was standing by the crate. Annie sighed then returned to watching the boy.

The pig tailed girl stood by awkwardly for a moment then tried another approach to get Annie to talk. "What's your name? My name is Mina Karolina!" she said enthusiastically.

"Annie Leonhart..." Annie mumbled, not taking her gaze off of the green-eyed boy.

Mina jumped up on the crate, much to Annie's annoyance. Annie scowled, then scooted away from Mina.

"So Annie, whatcha doing?" Mina asked.

Annie didn't answer. Mina followed Annie's gaze and spotted who she was staring at. "Ooh, checking out some of the male recruits?"

"No. I'm people watching," Annie muttered.

Mina moved closer to Annie. "So that's a yes? Don't worry I won't tell anyone! He is kinda cute..."

Annie let out a heavy sigh of annoyance and jumped off the crate. This Mina girl was a pain in the ass. _I swear, if all the girls are like this, I'm going to not even bother here_. It looked like Mina was going to try to speak again but before she could a man walked up in front of the recruits. He looked very much like a stereotypical bad guy to Annie. Permanent frown, intense eyes, apparent disgust for every living creature on earth.

"Listen up maggots! You all are about to undergo your physical exam! All recruits A through M, go to Barrack One! N through Z, Barrack Two! If you pass, you will be immediately sent out to the training field! If you fail, get the fuck out of my sight you sorry sacks of shit!"

"Yay! We're in the same group for exams!" Mina cheered. Annie groaned and face-palmed.

...

The physical exams were thankfully brief. Just a once-over to ensure no one had chronic health problems that would interfere with operations, as well as those who made the cut receiving their training uniforms. Once Annie passed her exam, she dashed off to the training field to find Bertholt and Reiner. Along the way, she passed by the girl who had been eating before the physicals. This time, she had some sort of new food. _Is that a potato? Does this girl ever stop eating?_ She passed the braggy brown-haired boy again as well, who was talking the ear off some poor kid with a bowl-cut and freckles. She spotted Reiner and Bertholt standing next to each other and waved at them. Reiner spotted Annie and waved back. Annie walked over then noticed who was in the row in front of her friends. The green-eyed boy and his friends. _Well, this will give me another chance to figure out more about this guy._

Once all of the remaining recruits filed out onto the field the officer from earlier appeared in front of them. "Alright maggots! My name is Commander Keith Shadis! Don't you ever fucking use my first name, got that! We are not friends and you are all pieces of human excrement! No one likes you!" he shouted.

Commander Shadis stalked around and sized everyone up, occasionally yelling at people who failed to meet his standards. A boy with a buzz cut got berated for not saluting properly, and the braggy boy was also berated but instead for his justification for joining the military. Perhaps the worst was what happened to the girl eating a potato. She was shouted at then immediately forced to run laps. She was also to not be given any food for the rest of the day. Annie couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic Potato Girl was while running her laps.

After the initial inspection and orientation, the new recruits were given a block of unstructured time to claim beds in the barracks and put their belongings in the barracks. Annie picked up her canvas sack from where she had set it near the supply crate and walked of to the female recruit barrack. She noticed that the beds were bunk beds, but with large cots that could fit up to four people. She claimed a top bunk and put her sack in the corner beside the wall. Annie leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes for a second, happy to have a minute alone.

"Hi Annie!" a familiar voice chirped.

Annie opened her eyes and saw Mina on the opposite side of the bed. "Ugh..." Annie groaned.

"Do you mind if I share a bunk with you? I promise I'm not a restless sleeper or anything," Mina asked.

Annie looked around the room to see if any of the other bunks had available spots but her's was the only one that was mostly open. "Fine," Annie said quietly.

"Have you met any of the other girls yet?" Mina asked.

"No I haven't," Annie said.

"Oh! Well, I have! Come on, I'll introduce you to a few of them!" Mina said cheerfully.

Mina dragged Annie off the bed and into the center of the room. The brunette, blonde, and black-haired girls were all standing there, chatting to each other.

"Annie, these are Ymir, Krista, and Mikasa. Everyone, this is Annie!" Mina chirped.

"Hi! I'm Krista Lenz!" the blonde girl said, offering Annie her hand. She had a very high-pitched, sweet sounding voice. _Her voice could get old after a while..._

Once Annie had shook hands with Krista, she turned to the red-head and awkwardly offered to shake her hand. "I'm not really big on...touching...you can just put your hand down sweetie," she said in a low voice, staring at Annie's hand. "I'm Ymir, by the way."

"Don't you have a last name?" Annie asked. Ymir chuckled lightly and shook her head no.

The black-haired girl, who Annie assumed was Mikasa, just sort of glared at Annie. "Hi," Mikasa muttered. _What's with her attitude?_

The girls all looked outside as a loud siren blared in the distance. Krista seemed alarmed and jumped from fright when it sounded.

"Oh! That must mean that we need to report back to the training fields! Come on, let's go!" Mina yelped.

Mina trotted out of the barrack, followed by Ymir and Krista, who was clinging to Ymir's arm. Mikasa gave Annie a look and walked past her to follow the others. _What's her problem? Does she think I was checking out her friend or something?_ Annie shrugged it off and walked back out to the training fields.


	5. Chapter 5: Connections

**Author's Notes: First off, thank you so much everyone who's been reading my story! I checked earlier today and its at over 500 views now, which I just think is so awesome. I really mean it when I say thank you for the support I've gotten for this story. I've started the cover art for the story, which should hopefully take a week or two at most. Also, if you enjoy my story I highly recommend checking out "That Morning five years ago" by Cavecaleb1. It was one of the first Ereannie stories I read and just keeps getting better every chapter. And as always, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

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Chapter 5: Connections

_Most members of the Leonhart family are characterized by an introverted disposition. We are observers, not socialites. As such, we are often good at judging a person's character and gathering information about them just from their appearance and their actions. However, this introversion comes with a price. When it comes to actually interacting with people, we often falter and either speak in short sentences or say something people consider awkward or inappropriate and are forced to leave the conversation. -Annie's Journal_

Commander Shadis was on his stand in the training field, giving the evil eye to all of the recruits as they walked up. "Every time a trainee is late, a puppy dies! You sacks of shit don't want to kill puppies, do you?!" he shouted.

Annie looked around and saw Krista crying. _Doesn't she realize he's trying to make us uncomfortable? Pathetic_. Annie readjusted her bun and found an empty spot in the field. Next to the green-eyed boy. Oh joy, Mikasa would so enjoy knowing that she was near him.

Commander Shadis shook his head as the last few recruits filed in. "Hurry up!" Once everyone was in the training field, he began to speak. "Alright weaklings, first thing you're going to do for me is a full, total body work out! Think of this as a physical test. If you complete this, you're good enough to advance. If you don't, YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" Shadis shouted. "Alright. See the person next to you? They'll help count up your reps for each type of workout. I expect fifty push-ups, fifty lunges, fifty jumping jacks, fifty crunches, and fifty squats each! Start now you sorry excuses for people!"

Annie looked at the boy beside her. "Well, we should start," he said.

Annie nodded curtly and began her push-ups. The green-eyed boy got down beside her and began as well.

Annie remained quiet for the workout, trying to learn more about this guy. Something about him was very intriguing. _I wonder what I can find out about this guy. Maybe he'll have some information I can use._ Annie and the boy switched over to the lunges once they finished the push-ups.

"Hey, so, what's your name?" he asked.

Annie remained silent, entirely focused on the workout. She could feel the boy looking at her. "Do you talk at all?" he asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"My name is Annie," she replied after a minute. _Temperamental._ _Great, I'm going to dislike everyone here, aren't I?_

"Alright. Anyway, my name's Eren Jaeger," the boy replied, resuming the exercised.

Again, Annie remained silent. Commander Shadis walked back up to his stand, and looked ready to yell again. "Time's up you little shits! How many of you actually completed the task!?"

Annie stood up straight and looked around the training field. Several trainees had collapsed and many others looked ready to collapse. She spotted Bertholt panting next to Reiner, who looked ready to collapse. Ymir was standing beside a passed-out Krista. Mikasa, who was apparently the resident overachiever, looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat. _How can she possibly not be tired out from this?_

"Alright, you are dismissed for dinner! Eat your slop and then go straight to your barracks! No fraternizing with anyone outside, and do not, I repeat DO NOT feed the potato thief Sasha Braus!" Shaddis spat.

Annie unsteadily walked back to the female barrack, climbed up to her bunk, and laid down on the bed for a few minutes before changing into casual clothes for dinner. _This...this was a lot more than I expected the first day...It wouldn't surprise me if half these people leave training tonight._ Once she regained her bearings, she took off her jacket and sweaty hoodie, then put on a grey button-down shirt before changing out of her uniform pants. She removed the picture she kept in her hoodie pocket and looked at it for a second. _If I can survive Dad's training, I can survive this. I have to just think about what he taught me._ Once she finished viewing it, she put it in her undershirt and got off the bunk. Annie began to walk out of the barrack when Mikasa appeared out from one of the lower bunks and stopped her.

"If you think you can start stalking Eren, you are dead wrong. Hurt a single hair on his head and I'll make sure you suffer," Mikasa hissed.

Annie eyed Mikasa, surprised by the accusation of stalking. "I'm not stalking him. Now let me go eat."

Mikasa raised an eyebrow at Annie and frowned, then let Annie pass by. Once Annie arrived in the canteen, she spotted Mina waving to her and pointing to an empty seat at the table. Annie groaned and tried to find another seat, but Mina wouldn't stop trying to get her to come over. _I suppose she'll stop trying so desperately to be my friend if I humor her this once._ Annie picked up a bowl of food and took the seat Mina was saving.

"Hi Annie!" Mina said in her usual bubbly tone.

"Um, hi," Annie mumbled.

"How did the exercise go? Did you have any trouble with it? I swear I was so close to passing out after we finished," Mina asked.

"It was hard. I guess it's a good way of weeding out the weaklings thought. They obviously don't want people here who can't keep up," Annie said.

Mina nodded her head, but it seemed more like she was trying to advance the conversation than that she actually agreed with Annie. Suddenly, she changed the topic. "Did you hear there was already a fight? Well, not a complete fight, but sort of a fight?"

"No I hadn't heard that," Annie replied.

"Yeah, everyone was talking about what it was like in Shiganshina when the wall fell because, well, Eren's originally from Shiganshina. Did you know that? Anyway, Jean Kirstein started egging him on about it and why Eren wants to join the Survey Corps even though he could be eaten by Titans and even though he watched his mother get eaten by Titans and then Eren insulted him for being lazy by deciding to join the Military Police and they started arguing," Mina rambled.

"Oh, how did that turn out?" Annie asked, now interested.

"I think Mikasa broke it up before the actual fight broke out or something. I only heard about it from Connie, since he saw them going at it," Mina concluded.

_So Eren's originally from Shiganshina..._Annie thought. _He lost his mother on that day._ She then resumed talking to Mina. "Does Mikasa know Eren? She mentioned him in the barrack."

"She's his adopted sister. She told me earlier. You should talk to her sometime, she's really nice!" Mina replied.

_Ha, ha, Mikasa nice. What a load of bullshit. Maybe the fact that she's Eren's sister explains why she's so defensive about him_. "When did the fight happen?" Annie asked, changing the subject.

"Um, it was about ten minutes ago. You were still changing and I was just heading over when it happened," Mina said, recalling what she heard.

Annie looked around the room and spotted Eren again, sitting next to Mikasa and his huge-eyed blond friend. "Since you apparently know everyone here already, who is the little boy with huge eyes?"

Mina followed Annie's gaze to see who she was talking about. "Oh! That's Armin. He's apparently really close friends with Eren and Mikasa. Another person from Shiganshina."

Annie nodded slowly then started eating her evening meal. It was some sort of stew, but when she took a spoonful it tasted absolutely vile. She gagged then noticed Mina giggling. She let out a heavy sigh of annoyance and choked down the rest of the stew before leaving the table and heading back to the barrack.

On the way back Annie noticed Krista sneaking out of the barrack. "What are you doing?" Annie asked.

"I felt sorry for Potato Girl so I snuck some bread for her. Don't tell anyone!" Krista pleaded quietly.

Annie ignored Krista then walked back into the barrack, locking eyes with Mikasa as she passed the other girl's bunk. She climbed up the ladder to her and Mina's bunk and threw the sheets over herself to change. A few minutes later, Annie resurfaced, and grabbed her journal from her sack of belongings. She turned to a particular page and smiled sadly, reading what was on it.

"_My darling Annie, welcome to this world. You are so precious to me, and I am so excited to finally meet you after these nine months. Though this world isn't always fair, you will learn to enjoy the pleasures and persevere through the hardships. Growing up in this world is hard, but I will always be here for you, watching every single step you make in life's journey. Always remember that I love you and care about you, my precious baby girl. Love, your mother, Beatrix Leonhart_."

Beside the note in the journal was a picture of Annie as a newborn, being held in the arms of her mother. Her mother looked so much like her. Same light blonde hair, same face, only in every picture she had seen of her mother she was smiling, something Annie rarely did. She could barely remember what her mother was like, but these pictures and writings provided as much of a connection as she could get. _It looks like I'm not the only one to have lost their mother at a young age here. I wonder if he thinks about his mother as much as I think about you, even though I was so young when I lost you._


	6. Chapter 6: Tests

**Author's Notes: OVER 800 VIEWS! Holy Totoro that's amazing! Thank you so much everyone who's been following this story for your continuing support! Also, over 2000 words in this chapter because I've finally had the time to sit down and write longer! As a final thank you, thanks Cavecaleb1 for your in-depth review, I really appreciate the detailed feedback and I'll definitely be taking your suggestions as the story moves forward. And last but not least, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

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Chapter 6: Tests

_Although the majority of Leonharts are introverts, this does not mean that we are incapable of forming deep emotional connections. When we experience an emotional connection with someone, we often find it hard to imagine hurting them or upsetting them. This can come at a cost, however, because our fear of upsetting those dear to us makes us reluctant to attempt any sort of interaction which may possibly have a negative outcome. -Annie's Journal_

Annie woke up the following morning, still clutching her journal. When she opened her eyes, she saw Mina hovering over her.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" Annie yelled.

"You know you talk in your sleep, right? Because you do," Mina said, leaning back as Annie sat up.

Annie rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I'm not that loud."

"Sweetie, you are. We could all hear you," Ymir said from the bunk opposite of Annie and Mina. Krista, also in the bunk with Ymir, started giggling,

"What was I talking about?" Annie asked, curious.

"Something about Shiganshina. Right Ymir?" Mina said.

"Yeah, it was about Shiganshina and then something about mothers. Also, you sleep cry," Ymir added.

Annie felt like punching Mina, but told herself it wasn't worth it. Besides, it's not like they heard anything other than nonsense. As for the crying, well, that was just sort of embarrassing.

Mina spotted the journal in Annie's hand and began talking again "What's that? It it a dream journal? I used to keep a dream journal too."

Annie quickly hid her journal in her sack and then stretched. "It's none of your business."

A few minutes later the girls began filing into the canteen for breakfast. Annie found the table Bertholt and Reiner were at and sat with them before Mina could try to be friendly again. Bertholt smiled at Annie, and Reiner just lazily yawned.

"Hey Annie. How was your first night?" Bertholt asked.

"Passable," Annie responded.

"Ours was...okay? The beds are even less comfortable here than they were at the inn we stayed at in Trost," Reiner groaned, cracking his neck.

"Anyone interesting in your barracks?" Annie asked.

"There's Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlet. They're both pretty cool guys, and we're telling us about growing up in Shiganshina..." Reiner began, but stopped when he came to the name of the ill-fated town.

"Jean Kirshtein and Connie Springer are also interesting. Jean's the cocky guy who got into that argument with Eren yesterday and apparently he wants to join the Military Police? Connie seems like a nice guy but he has no clue what he's doing and he seems a little...ah..." Bertholt said.

"The guy is dumber than a box of rocks," Reiner finished.

"Sounds like Potato Girl," Annie muttered. Just then, Sasha walked by carrying a tray stacked with bread, eggs, and porridge.

"Damn that girl eats a lot," Reiner gasped.

"I'm sure she'll share with the others," Bertholt said before witnessing Sasha devour a bowl of porridge, five eggs, and two pieces of bread.

"Disgusting," Annie muttered. "Eating that much. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts vomiting during training today."

Bertholt grabbed a bowl of porridge and an egg for everyone, which the three quickly ate. After finishing, they ran out to the training field. Commander Shadis was giving everyone his death stare.

"I hope you enjoyed your breakfast. Nineteen fine chickens gave their lives for your breakfast! They were worth more than any of you!" Shadis shouted. "Today we will be giving you a test on how to properly use the 3D Maneuver Gear. This technology will save your sorry ass at least once! You must be able to use it before progressing! Now hurry up!"

One by one the recruits got in line to test the gear. Annie looked around and spotted significantly fewer recruits than there had been yesterday, most likely due to drop outs. _If they couldn't take the training, they didn't deserve to be here in the first place._ _Pathetic how many are gone_. Mikasa was among the first few to go up and test the 3D maneuver gear, and of course she was able to balance perfectly on it. Armin came after her, and despite being slightly unsteady at first, he was able to get his balance after a minute. Annie was actually impressed by how many people so far had succeeded in balancing in the 3D maneuver gear, considering how most people had not had any training. Even Potato Girl was able to balance! Bertholt and Reiner both passed, despite both being fairly clumsy. Then came Eren's turn to try the gear. Instead of being able to gain his balance like everyone who had gone before him, he tumbled and landed head first on the ground. The other recruits began laughing, and Annie let out a slight chuckle. Eren seemed dazed by his tumble, and was promptly escorted to the infirmary by one of Commander Shaddis's assistants.

Not long after Eren's accident, it was Annie's turn. She stepped into the testing rig while her gear was hooked up to the suspension cables in the rig. Shadis's assistants raised the suspension cables and soon Annie was suspended above the ground. It felt odd, but Annie sucked in a deep breath and attempted to center herself. This worked, and after a couple of seconds she was balancing in the rig. _This isn't bad. I could get used to fighting from above in this sort of set up_.

"Congratulations Leonhart, you pass, unlike Jaeger!" Shadis said, causing the rest of the recruits to laugh again.

The assistants lowered Annie back to the ground and she unfastened her gear from the suspension cables. She walked back into the crowd of recruits, who were watching as the next person was being loaded into the testing rig. Instead of staying to watch the next recruits, Annie continued to walk and began heading toward the female barrack. Once inside, she picked up her journal from her sack and then took it with her as she walked out the rear exit of the barrack. There was a trail not far from the barracks that lead into a nearby forest, and Annie followed the trail to a small clearing in the forest. The clearing was very quiet and isolated from everyone else, which was perfect. Being around people all day was overwhelming, and Annie had been hoping to find a quiet spot to be alone.

Annie took off her jacket and set it down beside a tree stump. She then carefully set her journal on top of her jacket and walked out to the center of the clearing. It was a perfect space to be alone in. Other than the trail, it was completely removed from the rest of the training camp. The break in the trees allowed for a lovely view of the sky, and the few trees and stumps in the clearing were small enough that they didn't obscure the view. In fact, the stumps could actually prove useful for practicing...

Annie shifted into her fighting stance, which was something her father had taught her. _Lower your center of gravity but remain light on your feet so you can still move quickly. Guard your face and upper chest with your arms. Keep your thumbs protected with your knuckles._ Annie swung her left leg at a nearby stump and caused it to shake when her foot made impact. She then slid her body and left leg back, keeping her right foot ahead of her. Rebalancing her weight so it was now mostly on her left foot, she lunged forward and landed a blow with her right hand, balled up in a fist. This blow cracked the stump, making Annie smile a little at her work.

Practicing hand to hand combat was one of the few things that gave Annie a feeling of happiness. She was in control, and no one could take that control from her. She had been considered a prodigy growing up, displaying a talent for combat even at a young age. Of course, her father's training had improved her skills immensely. She owed her success in combat to her father.

Even though her brother and sister had also displayed a talent for combat, they never took to it like Annie did. She was the only one of the three to be trained directly by their father for the entirety of her training. Her brother had been trained by an uncle since he never really seemed to care about combat while her sister, on the other hand, had started training with their father but demanded to be taught by someone else after just a short time. She had stopped training with him well before Annie even begun training.

After a few hours, Annie felt like it was time to return to the camp with the other trainees in case anyone thought she had deserted. Besides, it would be about lunch time and she was beginning to get hungry. She put her jacket back on and picked up her journal, hiding it in her hoodie pocket. As she walked back into the camp, she noticed people were just arriving at the canteen. _Oh good, looks like I haven't missed much. This probably means no one noticed I was gone_.

Once she walked in to the canteen, she spotted Mina waving at her. Mina had saved her a seat again, but this time it was at a more crowded table. Ymir, Krista, and Sasha were all at the table, as well as a few other girls. Annie search for Bertholt and Reiner, hoping for an excuse to not sit with Mina, but the two of them were sitting with Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and a few other guys. There was an empty space but Annie didn't want to risk a fight breaking out between her and Mikasa, so she sucked in her breath and joined Mina at the girl table.

"Hi Annie!" Mina chirped. Annie didn't acknowledge Mina. _Maybe ignoring her will get her to leave me alone_.

Sasha was eating what appeared to be a rabbit, and there was evidence that she had already eaten the rest of her lunch. Ymir and Krista exchanged a glance as Sasha began picking the rabbit's bones for meat. Annie left the table to get her lunch, feeling disgusted by Sasha's gluttony. Once she had gotten her food, she returned to the table and noticed Sasha had begun to eat Krista's serving of beets. Annie gave her a look of disgust as she sat back down on the table.

"It's fine, it's fine. I wasn't going to eat the beets anyway..." Krista sighed meekly to the table.

"Oh, Annie, you haven't met Ruth or Hannah, have you?" Mina asked, gesturing to the two other girls at the table. One had light red hair and the other had medium brown hair.

"Hi, I'm Hannah!" said the red-head.

"And I'm Ruth!" the other girl said.

Hannah looked at Annie, waiting for some sort of reply. The blonde girl remained silent, and Hannah awkwardly turned to Mina. "Does Annie talk?"

"Only in her sleep," Ymir chuckled, causing the other girls to laugh.

Annie groaned and looked over at where Bertholt and Reiner were seated. They seemed to be getting along well with Eren and Armin, and even Mikasa seemed to be enjoying the conversation. _I wish I could join them. They seem to be having a lot more fun, and it would be better than being stuck here with these girls and being the butt of their jokes_.

Once Annie finished her lunch, she left the canteen and headed back to her clearing in the forest. She wouldn't be missing anything important tonight anyway, just an intro to armed combat. She was more advanced in combat than anyone else there anyway. She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening practicing her hand to hand combat, and only returned back to the barrack once the sun had gone down completely.


	7. Chapter 7: Fights

**Author's Notes: Here it is folks. What I'm sure you've all been waiting for: Eren and Annie interacting with each other and building up a relationship. Sorry it's taken this long to get to it, but now that the focus of the story has now shifted to this it'll start to pick up. And I can promise you to expect some romance very shortly after this chapter. This however brings me to my next point. I have exams pretty much the whole month of May and next week is my review week, so updates will be much less frequent until like the last week of May. I'm sorry, but once I get finished with exams I'll have much more time to write and so expect longer chapters in a few weeks! And finally, thank you so so much for the continuing support and feedback. I saw this story now has over 1000 views, which I thing is amazing and its all thanks to you! Last but not least, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

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Chapter 7: Fights

_Some members of the Leonhart family are characterized as having a poor attitude or being uninterested in anything. This is incorrect. More likely these individuals just find whatever they're doing boring or too easy, and wish to move onto something more exciting. There's nothing wrong with being bored by a task, but it can potentially be a source of conflict when it is an assigned task. -Annie's Journal_

Annie's routine of sneaking off to be alone in her clearing while the other recruits worked on basic physical exercises and techniques remained pretty much the same for the first couple of weeks. She would hang around for the first few minutes of whatever exercise was happening, then walk away once Shadis or whichever of his assistants was supervising the recruits. The system worked well for the most part, then one day Reiner had to notice her sneaking off during armed combat practice. She had overheard Reiner and Eren talking about her and how her sneaking away every day made her seem lazy, so she stopped in her tracks, ready to confront the two.

Reiner walked up to Annie with a stupid grin on his face. "Don't want to practice with the rest of us? Maybe you should rethink why you decided to join if you're this lazy."

Annie knew this was a way to get under her skin and mock her for disappearing, and told herself it wouldn't work, but somehow it did. She gave Reiner her look of death and mouthed "_I'll deal with you later_" to him, while Eren ran up to them.

"Hey, Reiner, why are you being so rude?" Eren asked before seeing how irritated she was.

Annie realized what Reiner was doing and shifted her piercing gaze to Eren, who seemed terrified to face her. Reiner shoved Eren in front of Annie and said "Go get her!" while Eren protested.

Finally, Eren seemed to collect himself enough to lunge at Annie, who dodged the lunge and then swung her left leg out as Eren passed her. Her foot connected with his thigh and he fell to the ground in pain. He seemed sort of stunned. Annie, meanwhile, looked at Reiner, waiting for him to be done with the pointless drill.

"Can I go now?" she asked impatiently.

Reiner continued smiling stupidly at her. "You didn't do too badly, but the drill ends when you have your opponent's dagger."

Annie rolled her eyes and returned to her stance as Eren attempted to lunge at her again. She grabbed him by the wrist with her right hand, grabbed the dagger, and knocked his feet out from under him in one fluid motion. Eren landed on his back and crumpled over, looking up at Reiner. Annie tossed the wooden dagger in the air once, then tossed it to Reiner. "Alright. **Your **turn to fight me Reiner," Annie said, an angry edge to her voice.

Reiner gasped at the thought of having to fight Annie, who he was terrified of despite being unwilling to admit it. Eren gave Reiner a pathetic look and said "Go teach her what it means to be a soldier, Reiner..."

Reiner sucked in his breath but before he could even move Annie had jabbed him in the gut, kicked him in the leg and back, and punched him in the face. Reiner collapsed, humiliated. Annie readjusted her hair then noticed Eren looking up at her. "What?" she asked, annoyed.

"Your technique is really good. Where did you learn that?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"My Dad taught it to me," Annie said flatly.

"Your Dad taught you that? That's amazing!" Eren enthused.

"Don't get too excited about it," Annie mumbled. "Hand to hand combat doesn't count toward our eventual ranking."

"Why's that?" Eren asked, confused.

Annie lunged toward Eren with the wooden dagger in her hand and held it above his neck. "Are you really that naive!? The rankings are arbitrary. Think about it. Why else would only the top ten graduates be eligible for the Military Police. Does it make any sense that the further away you are from the action, the better you are at killing Titans?" Annie spat, before regaining her composure a little. "You can play soldier as much as you want, but it doesn't matter one way or another. You can keep being naive and believing this will help, or you can accept the reality of the situation."

Annie got off of Eren and turned around to walk to her clearing. She looked back and noticed Eren looked quite dumbstruck by what had happened, but didn't appear angry or upset with her. _Why isn't he upset? I basically just destroyed his delusion. _She then turned back around and resumed walking to the clearing to resume her solo practice.

Once she was back at the clearing, she started violently attacking one of her target tree stumps, which she had attached a crudely done drawing of Mikasa to. _Why the hell is Eren interested in my fighting technique!? He's Mr. "I'm going to join the Survey Corps and get eaten by Titans on my first mission"! He doesn't really have any reason for wanting to learn hand to hand combat!_ Annie pulled back from her target stump and looked at the damage she had done. The drawing of Mikasa was badly ripped and the stump had several cracks in it. She dug a new drawing out from her pocket, this time of Sasha, and replaced the drawing of Mikasa with it.

_He probably just thinks of it as a game or some shit like that. _Annie paused and thought about it more. _Maybe he's genuinely interested in learning more about fighting. If he is, would it be so bad if I offered to teach him some of what I know? I wouldn't be compromising my mission by teaching him my technique._ Annie sighed deeply and began walking back to the training area, knowing that lunch was about to start. _Dad wouldn't be opposed to teaching someone interested in learning his technique. Why should I be?_

Once inside the canteen, Annie found a spot at an empty table and claimed it. She realized she was early to lunch, but decided against leaving the canteen as it could look suspicious. A few others were there, including Jean Kirshtein and his close friend Marco Bott. They were talking about Eren and his stupidity for wanting to join the Survey Corps, which she didn't care to listen to. A minute or so later, Bertholt and Reiner came in and sat with Annie.

"You realize I'm still sore from sparring with you," Reiner muttered as he sat down.

Bertholt began chuckling at the thought of Annie, barely a meter and a half tall, flipping a large person like Reiner. Annie glared at Bertholt who quickly stopped laughing. Reiner grumbled from pain then walked up to the queue forming by the food station. Bertholt, seeing the opportunity, moved over a seat to be closer to Annie, who gave him an annoyed look.

"What you want?" Annie hissed.

"Well, I was wondering, if...ah..." Bertholt began.

Suddenly Sasha's voice sounded from a few tables over "FIGHT!" she shouted, drawing the word out.

Bertholt got up to try to break up whoever was fighting while Annie remained in her seat to watch. She looked over and saw Eren and Jean arguing, with Jean about to raise his hand to punch Eren. What Annie saw next was like something out of a dream. Eren reached for Jean's hand before he could land a blow, then Eren quickly shifted his weight and landed a blow with his foot to Jean's calf. _He used my technique! I can't believe that Eren actually paid attention to our fight earlier. Maybe Eren has more to him than I thought. _Annie felt herself smile, and not just a small smile. A genuine, emotional smile.

After the crowd had dispersed from the fight, Annie walked up to Eren, who was celebrating with Mikasa and Armin. Mikasa eyed her cautiously while Armin gave her a faint smile. Eren acknowledged her with a nod.

"Hey Annie. I was telling these two about how I learned that move from our fight earlier," Eren said in a proud tone. "Also, are you smiling? I've never seen you smile before!"

Annie touched her hair nervously and blushed. "Um, yeah...I don't smile much...but, it was great that you used the technique from the fight. I really like that you used it," Annie said awkwardly. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like me to kick your ass sometime again..."

Eren and Armin laughed. "I'd say you could easily take me anytime. You're probably the strongest fighter I know," Eren said, grinning.

Mikasa glared at Annie, who was now blushing from embarrassment even more. "Not what I meant. Just...never mind..." Annie sighed, walking back to her table, where Bertholt and Reiner were still talking.

Once back at the table, Annie buried her head in her hands. Bertholt and Reiner looked at each other, wondering what happened.

"Hey, Annie, everything ok?" Bertholt asked nervously.

Annie lifted her head up and gave him an angry look. She then sighed slightly and felt herself calming down. "Sure, I guess things are fine," she said in a monotone.

Reiner got up and left the table, fearing Annie was still angry. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of her lashing out. Bertholt attempted to move closer to Annie, feeling himself getting sweaty from nerves.

"Anyway, Annie, what I wanted to ask you earlier is if you'd like to-" Bertholt was cut off by Eren, who had walked up to the table.

"Hey, um, Annie, can we talk outside for a minute?" Eren asked.

Annie got up from the table without replying, and followed Eren out to the porch of the canteen. Bertholt watched the two exit together and sighed disappointedly.

The sun was beginning to set and the recruits were able to enjoy a brief moment of downtime while the rest of their lunch and freetime block wound down. Eren took a seat on one of the steps, while Annie leaned against the post of the stairs leading to the canteen.

"So...I really do want to thank you for sparring with me today, and kicking my ass. It was worth it to be able to shut Horse Face up for once," Eren said, smiling at her.

"Of course," Annie replied in a monotone.

"I know you don't really believe that this armed combat training is worth it, but I can see how good you are at it. I'd really like to be able to learn some fight moves from you" Eren replied.

Annie smiled lightly. "I was going to ask you at the table if you wanted to learn a thing or two. You seemed interested after our match today, even though you were pretty horrible."

Eren laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess I was. But I'm sure if I work with you I'll get a lot better"

Annie smiled at the complement and gazed off onto the horizon. Finally she turned to the boy and resumed speaking. "If practicing with me means that much to you, I'll be willing to work with you."

The two smiled at each other over their new found connection, then Eren got up from his seat on the porch. "I'm really looking forward to training with you! When should we start?" he asked.

Annie thought about it for a second then answered. "Tomorrow night. Meet me after dinner and I'll take you to a place where we can train."


	8. Chapter 8: Trust

**Author's Notes: Yay new chapter! I managed to find some time to work on this despite having nine exams in the next three weeks aka I've been procrastinating about studying. But one of my exams is mostly writing, so I guess working on this helps? Maybe. Anyway, we have more Eren and Annie time this chapter! I hope I've done a decent job at building up a relationship between the two of them and haven't let them get too OOC. Also, now that there's a relationship forming between the two, I'd like some input on how Mikasa and Bertholt should react to the situation. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please put them in a review or send me a PM. I'd love to get some input! And finally, thank you so so much everyone for your continuing support of the story! I'm amazed at how many people are following this story now and how many views its gotten. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support. As always, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Trust

_The old saying goes "keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer." There is a grain of truth to this statement, as who you trust can determine your future. For better or worse, who we trust shapes who we associate with and what our actions become. -Annie's Journal_

Annie was excited for her first lesson with Eren. Being able to teach someone her way seemed far more appealing than blindly following orders, something she had done most of her life. Plus, Eren showed promise. Despite not having any remarkable talent, he seemed very determined. The one thing she feared was being able to trust Eren enough to show him her technique. She was very proud of it and considered her moves a part of herself. For her, sharing her technique with someone was like sharing an intimate secret. She had to completely trust the other person. The issue was Annie wasn't sure how she could trust another person.

Annie had never been a very trusting individual, even as a child. As a little girl, her father had warned her to trust no one. It had been repeated to her so much growing up that it became a mantra of sorts. The only people she completely trusted were her immediate family members, and she hadn't seen them in nearly three years. She had been reluctant to make friends as a child out of fear, and even now didn't completely trust Bertholt and Reiner, despite staying with them after Shiganshina fell. If she couldn't even trust her two closest friends completely, how could she trust someone she had only met a month ago enough to train him.

It had been raining all day so afternoon and evening activities had been called off. Annie was sitting on her bunk, planning how to begin training Eren despite her concerns. The other girls, meanwhile, were playing a game of truth or dare on the floor of the barrack. They were very loud and distracting, making it impossible to concentrate on her thoughts.

"Can you all just be quiet? It's impossible to think while you're being so loud," Annie spat from her bunk, drawing the attention of the girls.

Mina rolled her eyes at Annie and giggled. "Why don't you come play the game with us instead of brooding in our bunk all day?"

"No. It's a stupid game," Annie scowled.

"Oh come on! It's really fun and you get to know everyone more! Please? Just one round?" Mina pleaded

Annie sighed and begrudgingly slid down from the top bunk to join the rest of the girls. Sasha and Ruth separated to make room for Annie, then the game resumed.

"Ok, Annie, so you know the rules, right? Well, basically when it's your turn you can pick anyone and ask them truth or dare. They have to answer the question or complete the dare, and can't bail out. Same rules apply for your turn!" Mina instructed.

"I know how to play truth or dare," Annie grumbled.

"Alrighty! It's my turn! Sasha, truth or dare?" Hannah proclaimed.

"Truth," Sasha replied.

"What's the grossest thing you've ever eaten?" Hannah asked.

Sasha thought about her answer for a minute then replied "I once ate a slug. Actually, more than once. My brothers made me do it. Oh well, that's what you get for growing up with in a family of boys!"

Annie felt herself gag at the thought. _So disgusting! Can she just eat herself to death or something so I never have to deal with her again?_

"Hm. Ymir, truth or dare?" Sasha asked, pointing to the tall brunette girl.

"Dare. Might as well make things exciting for Annie, now that she's joined us," Ymir answered.

"Alright. Ymir, I dare you to make out with Krista!" Sasha laughed.

"Ok," Ymir said before pulling Krista close to her and passionately kissing her. The other girls seemed stunned that Ymir was so cavalier in kissing the other girl. Once she finished, she looked at the crowd, who were gaping with shock.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. You all should have realized at this point I'm a lesbian," Ymir mocked. "Well, let's get this ball rolling again. Mikasa, truth or dare."

"Truth," Mikasa said. Annie was surprised to see that it looked like Mikasa was actually loosening up and having fun with this.

"Okay. What's the most embarrassing thing Eren did to you when you were younger?" Ymir asked.

"One time Eren walked in on me getting dressed. It would have been fine but he just kept staring at me, like he'd never seen someone naked. Then his mother walked in and started shouting at him how it was rude and girls need more privacy than boys," Mikasa said, snickering slightly. She then gave a cold look to Annie, plotting what to ask the blonde. "Annie, truth or dare?"

"Truth..." Annie said hesitantly.

"Hm...oh, do you like anyone here?" Mikasa asked, an irritated edge to her voice.

"As in..." Annie asked.

"You know, like like someone. Someone you want to get with," Sasha added.

"Oh. No, I'm not interested in that," Annie replied, giving a look back to Mikasa, having figured out what she was trying to find out.

"Anyone you guys like? I know that Hannah has the hots for Franz!" Sasha chirped.

"Hey! I told you to not tell anyone!" Hannah complained.

"Marco is kinda hot," Ruth sighed. Mina and Sasha nodded in agreement.

"If I played for the other team I'd say that Bertl is attractive. I mean, he's tall, dark, and has nice features. Isn't that what girls look for in guys?" Ymir added.

The other girls laughed. "He isn't too shabby, but I think I like his friend Reiner more. Oh, why do both of them have to be so cute?" Sasha sighed, falling over.

"Bertholt is a real pain to live with. He's very fussy when he sleeps. Everything has to be completely quiet and he always has to lie on his back with a pillow below his knees. Not that he wakes up like that half the time. And Reiner enjoys gross-out jokes, which are so immature" Annie said, surprising the other girls with her sudden talkativeness.

"I didn't know that you've lived with Bertholt and Reiner. Are you guys family or something?" Krista asked.

"We're friends. We lived together after the attack on Shiganshina happened," Annie said softly.

"Are you three from Shiganshina?" Mikasa asked cautiously.

"No. We lived a mile or so outside the walls but our home village got destroyed in the attack," Annie said. Mikasa didn't seem to believe this story but the others bought it. _Damn, she can see through me. Hopefully she doesn't think much of it or ask the others about us._

"What's everyone's most prized possessions? Since we've gotten off-topic, let's just ask questions," Ymir said, leaning against the frame of one of the bunks. "Mine's a lucky coin. I've had it since I was about twelve. It was the first thing I found when I started living in the walls."

Sasha got up from the floor and grabbed a bundle from her bunk. It appeared to have once been a stuffed toy but it was now falling apart. "This is Ilse. I've had her since I was a baby and she's slept with me every night."

Mikasa tugged at the red scarf she always wore and began speaking after Sasha finished. "Eren gave this to me the day I started living with his family."

Annie let out a deep sigh. _If I can open up to the others a little, maybe that can help me figure out how to trust Eren. _She looked at the others as they waited for her to tell them what her most precious possession was. _No! I can't let anyone get close to me! Trusting people is a mistake, can't turn out well for me or them!_

"I'm done. Have fun with your little game," Annie scowled, getting up and exiting the barrack.

The rain wasn't pleasant. It had been getting heavier as the day went on, and within a minute of going outside Annie was soaked. At least it was a warm rain, and her clothes would dry out eventually anyway. _I can't let people get close to me. I have a mission. They'll all just get in the way of it._ Annie began slogging through the mud and rain up to her clearing, hoping that it wasn't too muddy to practice. Unfortunately, the hike got harder as she got closer.

"Shit," Annie muttered when she finally reached the clearing. The ground was all muddy and tree branches that had blown down by the wind littered the surroundings. "Looks like I'm delaying Eren's sparring..."

Annie returned back to the camp and walked up to the door of the male barrack. She sucked in her breath then knocked on the door of the barrack. One of the boys answered the door. It was the one with a bowl cut and freckles. She'd recently learned his name was Marco. He seemed surprised and slightly terrified to see Annie at the door.

"Marco, I need to talk to Jaeger. Go get him for me," Annie demanded.

"Oh, hi...Annie...um, sure, yeah. Just give me a minute to go get him. Would you like to come in while I get him? I know you might be uncomfortable but it would be better than standing out in the rain," Marco replied awkwardly, holding the door open for her.

"I'm fine being around boys," Annie replied bluntly.

She stepped inside the barrack and looked around. It seemed a lot messier than the girls barrack. And louder. Connie was having a burping contest with Reiner and a couple of the other guys, Horseface was arguing with Armin, and Bertholt was discussing something with Eren. Marco walked up to Eren and pulled him away, leaving Bertholt alone. Bertholt spotted Annie and smiled and waved to her, then his smile faded when Eren walked up to Annie.

"Hey Annie!" Eren said, grinning.

"I don't think we can practice sparring tonight. I went up to where I normally practice by myself and its muddy. I'd rather start teaching you what I know when it's dry outside," Annie said.

Eren nodded his head. "Yeah, it's probably not the best night to spar. So, maybe we can just get to know each other? I mean, we're going to be sparring with each other, so it couldn't hurt."

Annie paused, nervously. It certainly couldn't hurt to get to know Eren better, but it could turn out like the game in the girls' room. _No, it won't. It's just me and him. Even if I can't trust him, at least I can get to know him better._

Annie followed Eren through the boys barrack to the rear exit. It was noticeably quieter near the rear, and Eren seemed to think it would be a good place to talk. He grabbed a couple of pillow off an empty bunk and set them on the floor near the exit then sat down on one of the two pillows. Annie sat down on the pillow opposite of him.

"I figured it would be more comfortable than sitting on the floor. I've landed on the floor enough from being shoved out of bed by Armin in his sleep," Eren chuckled. "So, anything interesting happening with the girls right now?"

"They played truth or dare. Your sister mentioned something embarrassing that you did when you two were kids. Then they started talking about who they find attractive," Annie listed.

Eren's face turned red. "Really Mikasa?! I don't need you telling people embarrassing stuff about me!" he growled angrily.

Annie smiled faintly. "Since you think we should get to know each other, tell me about yourself," she said.

"Oh, like what about me?" Eren said, calming down.

"Dunno. Just, things about you," Annie shrugged.

"Um, alright. Well, I was born in Shiganshina, which I'm sure you probably heard already. I used to live there with my mom and dad, and Mikasa too once she started living with us. Armin lived near us and we always used to hang out together," Eren described awkwardly. "Alright, now you tell me a little about yourself."

Annie sucked in her breath nervously. _How much should I tell him?_ _I could lie. But I'm a horrible liar. Dad always used to say how he could tell when I was lying because my voice would go flat._

"I was born in a village a little ways outside the walls. Bertholt and Reiner are from there too. I lived there with my father."

Eren nodded, then asked "What about your mother? Did your mother live with you, or..."

Annie felt a lump begin to form in her throat, and swallowed hard in an attempt to hide her emotions. "My mother died when I was four. I don't remember much about her."

Eren looked away sadly, tears pooling in his eyes. "I'm sorry. But, I understand what it's like to lose a parent. My mom got eaten by a Titan when they attacked Shiganshina, and my dad disappeared around then." He paused and wiped his eyes, then turned back to Annie. "What happened to your mother, if you don't mind me asking?"

Annie swallowed, feeling herself becoming more emotional. "She died in an accident. She had gone out in the woods to hunt, and she slipped and fell on some unstable rocks. She ended up breaking her neck. It was really hard on my dad and the rest of my family," she paused, uncomfortable with going into so much detail.

"Oh. I'm really sorry. It must be hard thinking about her and her death," Eren said quietly.

Annie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I barely remember her." She then let out a sigh and leaned back slightly on the pillow. "You know, it's strange. I don't remember my mother much but one of my clearest memories is her funeral."

"I guess it makes sense. My clearest memory is watching my mother get killed. I can still see the titan that killed her, and her blood dripping from its mouth," Eren said quietly, a haunted look flashing across his face. "Something vivid like that is bound to stay with you."

Annie shuddered at Eren's description of the death of his mother. The thought of that day, and her involvement soon came to mind. _I'm responsible for her death. Me and other kids from my home..._

"I'm guessing you and your father were pretty close then?" Eren asked, snapping Annie out of her thought. "Since he raised you?"

Annie smiled faintly, happy to change the subject. "Yes. Even though he was hard on me when I was younger, I'll always be grateful to him. He was the only person who was always there for me."

"Did you have many friends when you were a kid? I was never really popular growing up. Mikasa and Armin were really the only people who would hang out with me. Everyone else used to call me a psycho," Eren chuckled.

Annie laughed. "Nothing much has changed then. You completely fly off the handle whenever someone questions you wanting to join the Scouts." The two looked at each other and laughed again. "But, to answer your question, no, I didn't have many friends when I was younger. I was really quiet when I was younger. Even now, I'd say that the only friends I have are Bertholt and Reiner. After we left for Trost, we always stuck together," Annie said.

"Well, now you have me as a friend too," Eren said, smiling at Annie.

"Oh. Well, um, thanks," Annie mumbled, not sure how to respond. She then looked at Eren and got off the pillow. "We've been talking for a while, and I should probably get back to my barrack before someone starts wondering where I was. I don't want rumors to start and I don't want Commander Shithead to make my life hell because I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be."

"Of course," Eren said. He then flashed Annie a wide grin. "It was nice getting to talk to you and getting to know you better!"

Annie smiled back. "It was nice. I look forward to working with you soon."

Eren and Annie walked back through the barrack and then waved goodbye to each other as Annie exited the building. The rain had begun to let up, so walking back to the girl barrack wasn't as unpleasant as walking over had been. Back in the barrack, most of the girls had begun getting ready for bed. Ymir caught Annie's eye as she walked past her bunk, noticing the blonde's wet clothing.

"Up to anything, Annie?" Ymir asked.

"No. I just needed to step outside for a while," Annie said softly.

Annie then walked over to her own bunk where Mina was already laying down. Annie rolled her eyes at Mina as she climbed up.

"I'm sorry that you got uncomfortable during truth or dare. I really am," Mina said in a pleading tone.

"Apology accepted," Annie replied.

"Can we start over? I know that you've gotten annoyed with me, but I'm not trying to annoy you. I'd just like to get to know you better is all," Mina sighed sadly.

Annie sat on her side of the bunk and stared at Mina, her gaze softening once she realized Mina was being sincere. "Alright. Just understand that I am not a talkative person."

"Okay! Good night Annie!" Mina chirped as she dove under the sheets.

Annie changed out of her wet clothes and got under the sheets as well. She smiled as she thought about her conversation with Eren, and how he said they were friends. _Maybe training him will be easier than I thought. He's my friend now, after all._ Annie chuckled lightly at the thought. _I have a friend._


	9. Chapter 9: Friendship

**Author's Notes: This story is up to 22 follows and over 1500 views! I just looked at the stats for it and I just want to say thank you so so much for your continued support! This story would not be as good as it is without your support and feedback, so again thank you. Special thanks to KingKunta for your feedback on the last chapter and discussing Annie's character with me, its always a pleasure to discuss ideas and characterization with you and I feel it has really helped me to improve my characterization of Annie. If you enjoy my story, I recommend checking out "Love Hurts-Titan Ache" by KingKunta, an Ereannie story which does a great job of showing Eren and Annie interact as well as the other character's reactions to them. Now, as always, please leave a review and follow/favorite if you enjoy!**

**Ps. I started working on a Levi x Petra story earlier this week. Would people be interested in reading a story about them?**

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Chapter 9: Friendship

_Life without friends isn't life at all. Even though we may tell ourselves we can be independent and don't need anyone, it's not true. Friends can offer us someone to confide in, a shoulder to cry on, a second conscience, and a sense of belonging. Oftentimes our friends can surprise us with how much they mean to us. -Annie's Journal_

"Oi, Jaeger! Your form is sloppy again!" Annie shouted at Eren while sitting on a log in her clearing.

A few months had passed since they had enlisted and it was now almost fall. Eren and Annie had been sneaking off to practice hand-to-hand combat for most of that time during the afternoon freetime block, and they both always looked forward to that time of day. It would always go the same, Eren would try to attack Annie, he'd mess up badly, and Annie would berate him for it. But the two treasured their time practicing together, and had been becoming closer friends as their practices went on. And whether Annie wished to admit it to herself, she had begun to develop feelings toward the boy.

"That's it, I'm coming over," Annie threatened. She then jumped off her stump and shoved Eren, causing him to topple over.

"Hey! What was that for!?" Eren asked from the ground, surprised by the sudden attack.

"You aren't lowering your center of gravity, which makes it easy for your opponent to be able to knock you over. If you lower your center of gravity it becomes much harder for you to lose your balance," Annie lectured as Eren gave her an irritated look.

"I keep trying to lower my center of gravity but whenever I do you say that my movement gets too heavy..." Eren complained.

Annie offered him her hand and pulled him up off the ground. "Watch what I do then," she replied. She lowered into her fighting stance, crouching slightly and turning her right foot out slightly while moving her left foot in front of her hips. "Now try to knock me over."

Eren charged at Annie and shoved her, causing her to budge slightly from force but not enough to make her fall over. She quickly readjusted and saw an opening to make a move. She grabbed Eren's arm and twisted it behind his back, quickly moving behind him. She then delivered a swift kick to his calf. Eren yelped in pain and jumped away.

"You got me when I wasn't paying attention! I'm calling foul!" Eren said in shock.

Annie chuckled a little. "Alright, I'll give you that one, simply because you're so pathetic when someone catches you off-guard. But don't expect this to become a regular thing I do for you. In the real world your opponents aren't going to care if you're paying attention or not."

"Yeah...but this is training, not real world fighting. And that really hurt!" Eren complained, rubbing the back of his leg.

"Isn't the reason why you wanted to learn from me to get better at combat?" Annie asked. "I was raised as a warrior, and I take combat training very seriously."

Eren pouted at her, trying to elicit some sort of sympathy. Instead Annie smirked, trying to hold back a chuckle, and crossed her arms. "You realize how dumb you look when you pout, right?"

"Why thanks, Miss Snark Queen," Eren mocked, rolling his eyes at her remark. "I'm sure you look dumb when you pout too!"

"I probably still look better than you when you do it," Annie retorted. She then pouted at Eren slightly. "Oh no, Eren Jaeger has made me, poor weak little Annie, upset!"

Eren started laughing loudly. "Oh my God! You look ridiculous! I can't imagine you ever seriously doing this!"

Eren walked over to a horizontal log the two had set up as a makeshift bench and sat down, still laughing. Annie smiled faintly and joined him on the log bench, sitting within arm's length of him.

"I hope I didn't hurt your leg too badly. It might not be good to practice if you're hurt," Annie said, giving her version of an apology.

"Ah, no, its fine, I promise. You know I'm a quick healer. I'll be fine before you know it," Eren smiled. "Want to take a break?"

"I guess," Annie shrugged. "If you feel you need to."

The two sat back enjoying the surroundings for a minute. It was a very pleasant time of year, with mild temperatures and abundant 's fingers gently brushed against Annie's, making her blush. _Why did he touch me? Why am I blushing? Annie, snap out of it! Don't let yourself get too close to him, he'll just distract you from your mission._

"So, anything interesting happening over at the girls barrack?" Eren asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh. Krista and Ymir are a couple now, but I'm not sure if it's publicly known," Annie said, trying to think of what the other girls gossiped about. It had never really interested her, so she preferred to just catch bits of gossip and not actively participate.

"This is the first time I've heard about that they're a thing. Ah man, the boys will be so disappointed to hear Krista isn't available!" Eren laughed. "I think everyone in there has a crush on her."

"Do you have a crush on Krista?" Annie asked, a slight emotional edge to her voice.

Eren shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, I think she's pretty but I've never really given much thought to asking her to be my girlfriend. This is going to sound bad, but she's too nice for me! If I start seeing someone, I would want them to have my temperament."

"Oh God, a female Eren Jaeger! That would be a nightmare!" Annie laughed.

"You know what I mean!" Eren rolled his eyes at Annie. He then smiled at her. "You know, you look nice when you smile."

Annie blushed slightly, still smiling. "Thanks...I guess."

"What about you? Do you have a crush on anyone?" Eren asked curiously.

"I don't really see myself as the romantic type," Annie replied. "Besides, it's just a distraction from our current situation."

"Oh," Eren sighed softly, a hint of disappointment in his voice. Annie turned to him, about to say something, when he changed the subject. "I know that Horse-Face has a crush on my sister. In the barrack it's always 'Mikasa is so hot', 'I think Mikasa is sexy', 'I should ask Mikasa out'! I just want to kick the shit out of him whenever he makes a stupid comment about her!"

"Seems like you two have a pretty serious rivalry," Annie remarked.

"He's such a shithead. And the fact that he has the nerve to insult me by calling me Suicidal Bastard when he's a stupid fucking Horse Face is just-aah!" Eren ranted, throwing his hands up in the air.

Annie leaned back on the log bench and glanced at Eren, irritated. "Okay...I get it, Jean's an asshole."

"Sorry," Eren muttered, beginning to calm down. "He just gets so annoying sometimes. Especially when he's being a creep toward my sister!"

"It's understandable that you'd be annoyed by him," Annie said. "But he does have a point about you having a death wish."

"Oh great, now my own friend is siding with the enemy," Eren said sarcastically.

Annie smirked again and slugged Eren in the shoulder. He glanced at her and rubbed his shoulder, while Annie leaned forward and folded her hands together. "You're set on joining the Scouts, which you know is the most dangerous branch of the Military to join. That seems like a death wish to me. You had better become a master of the 3DMG once we really start getting to use it. Otherwise you'll probably get killed on your first mission."

Eren readjusted on the log and cracked his neck. "You'd be heartbroken if I got killed on my first mission!" he teased. "Oh, speaking of the 3DMG, I heard we're going to actually start using the real gear soon, and not just using the testing rig."

"That should be interesting. I wonder how people will hold up," Annie said. She then added snidely "Mikasa of course will be a natural at it."

"Yeah," Eren sighed, annoyed. "She always shows everyone up at everything. Except I think you're better at hand to hand combat than her."

Annie laughed nervously and pushed her bangs behind her ear. "I'm alright at it. You might not want to tell Mikasa you think that though. She'd probably kill both of us with her bare hands."

Eren grinned stupidly at Annie. "I'm sure we could take my sister on if we had to! You're the toughest fighter here and I am-"

"The worst student I've ever had," Annie teased.

"Oh haha, very funny Annie. I can't be that bad," Eren said sarcastically. He then got up from the log and stretched his back.

Annie jumped up as well and sunk back into her fighting stance. "If you don't think you're that bad, try to knock me over again," she said, grinning.

Eren attempted to copy his instructor's stance and sunk down to lower his center of gravity, however, he failed to position his feet correctly. Annie spotted the glaring mistake and as Eren charged at her she quickly dodged to her right and stuck her right foot out, tripping the boy. He tumbled forward and landed on his face, groaning. Annie walked over and crouched beside him.

"Need more proof?" Annie asked.

"Yeah yeah..." Eren muttered, getting up from the forest floor. "Can we head back now? Shadis will be pissed if we're late to afternoon training."

"Alright Jaeger. Same time tomorrow if the weather permits," Annie instructed. "And starting tomorrow I'm going to stop going easy on you."

Eren groaned and slapped his forehead. "You mean you've been going easy on me?"

Annie gave Eren a wicked smile as she walked past him toward the training grounds.

"I swear to God Annie, I'll beat you in a fight someday! Just you wait!" Eren taunted from behind her.

_Heh, sure Eren. Like you'd actually beat me in a fight_, Annie thought, smirking.


	10. Chapter 10: Confusion

**Author's Notes: Holy Totoros 26 follows, 20 favorites, and 2500+ views! I just want to say thank you all so so much! Honestly, this story would not be where it is and as good as it is now if it weren't for your continued support and feedback! And since I have a pretty big announcement to make, I figure that posting a new chapter (chapter 10 nonetheless) would be the best way to celebrate! Ok, so here's the announcement: today was my very last day of school! I'm so happy that I'm done because it means I have much more free time to write and do stuff! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and don't mind the fact that I'm not great at writing romance!**

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Chapter 10: Confusion

_Attraction is a strange thing. Most of the time we tell ourselves that we're genuinely not harboring feelings for someone when we're really in denial. Then when we are able to admit to ourselves that we have feelings for this person, we can't admit it to them. How can something so benign as romantic attraction be so confusing? -Annie's Journal_

"Alright you little shits! Time to learn how to be proper soldiers and use the 3DMG as it was meant to be used!" Shadis shouted to the crowd of recruits.

They were all standing in front of the forest for their first lesson in using the three dimensional omnidirectional maneuver gear that was standard issue for all branches of the military. Bertholt and Reiner glanced nervously at each other, while Annie remained stoic. Since the two were the largest of the boys, they worried that they'd fumble around with the gear or get injured. However, since Annie had a small, lean build she likely wouldn't have too hard a time using the gear.

Annie looked around the crowd and spotted Eren chatting with Mikasa and Armin, as usual. Eren caught her stare and proceeded to smile and wave. Annie gave a little wave back, then turned back to chat with Reiner and Bertholt.

"I really don't want to do this. You know I'm bad with heights..." Bertholt whimpered.

"Says the person who can become a sixty meter high titan. Don't be so cowardly Bertl," Annie muttered.

"Hey Annie, not so loud! People might be listening..." Reiner whispered nervously.

Annie glared at Reiner. "I sincerely doubt that people are going to care about what I'm whispering to you when Shadis is lecturing them."

Reiner was silent for a few seconds, and then piped up again. "Are you and Eren a thing? Because I'm always seeing you training together during, and you wave at each other during lectures like this, and..."

Bertholt cleared his throat nervously, making Reiner stop talking. Annie though for a second what she would say. Sure, there was chemistry between her and Eren, but he was just her pupil. Besides, if there was anything romantic going on between them Mikasa would have probably gone berserk. There was also the matter of her mission and how getting close to people could have a detrimental impact.

"No," Annie said finally in a low tone. "He's a friend. Nothing else."

Bertholt breathed a sigh of relief, causing Annie and Reiner to turn toward him. Bertholt blushed from embarrassment and pretended to be paying attention to Shadis's lecture.

"Alright! Who wants to be the first to give this bad boy a try! Don't be shy, as long as you paid attention you'll know how this works!" Shadis barked, seeming to direct the last sentence at Annie, Reiner, and Bertholt.

Mikasa raised her hand, and Shadis motioned for her to step forward. "Ackerman, think you can handle this?"

"Yes, sir," Mikasa replied, saluting Shadis once she reached where he was standing.

Shaddis pointed out a 3DMG set beside him, then watched as Mikasa began attaching the gear to her belts. Once the belts were all secured, Mikasa waited for Shadis to inspect her gear. Shaddis gave a look of surprise after finishing inspecting Mikasa's gear, and turned to face the crowd.

"Your comrade has done a remarkable job here with her gear. I normally have to correct each trainee at least once or twice, but Miss Ackerman has put on her gear correctly on her first try!" Shadis praised.

"Thank you, sir," Mikasa replied quietly.

"Now, demonstrate for your fellow trainees what to do next! Launch up to the oak tree on my right side. It's about 30 meters from where you're standing currently," Shadis instructed.

Mikasa nodded, then launched the grappling wire out from her 3DMG. It struck the trunk of the oak Shadis had indicated, and Mikasa braced herself to be pulled forward. A second later, she flew through the air, pulled along by the wire. It seemed so effortless for her, and sure enough she landed in a branch of the tree without much hassle.

"Was that satisfactory, sir?" Mikasa called from the tree.

"Flawless. Absolutely flawless. Ackerman, you have a natural gift!" Shadis proclaimed. A smile began forming on his face, much to the surprise of the trainees.

"I didn't know it was possible for him to smile," Reiner whispered to Bertholt.

"Alright, who thinks they can repeat Ackerman's performance!?" Shadis shouted at the trainees.

"I'll go next!" a familiar voice shouted from the crowd.

_Oh no. Surely Eren won't..._But sure enough,when Annie looked up she spotted Eren walking up to their cruel instructor, grinning. _The idiot will try to pull some stupid stunt and get hurt. He has to realize he's not going to get it right away like Mikasa._

"Haha! Looks like Suicidal Bastard is at it again! First he thinks he can kill all the Titans and now he thinks he can be as good at using the 3DMG as Mikasa!" Jean taunted loudly from the crowd.

"HEY! WHY DON'T YOU COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU NO GOOD LAZY ASS HORSE-FACE!" Eren shouted back at Jean. He was pissed. His face was now a bright red and his green eyes had a feral look to them. Shadis grabbed Eren before the boy could make it back into the crowd, where he probably would have attempted to destroy Jean.

"Thank you, Kirstein, for volunteering after Jaeger takes his turn! As for you, Jaeger, get your ass over to that tree now!" Shaddis spat.

A few trainees laughed at Jean, who now looked confused and alarmed, mouth gaping open. Eren, still in a rage, clipped himself into the gear and launched the grappling wire at the tree Mikasa was in before Shaddis could thoroughly inspect the gear, and began flying through the air as soon as the wire was secured in a tree. Annie watched nervously, hoping that somehow Eren had secured himself properly and wouldn't get hurt. _Please don't fall, please don't fall..._

The impact was truly remarkable in how bad it went. Somehow Eren had managed to crash into the upper branches of an elm in the opposite direction of the tree he was supposed to land in, fall onto several branches, then drop 3 meters down to the forest floor. His gear swung in the tree branches, apparently having become detached when he fell.

"Is he dead?" Sasha asked from the crowd.

Shadis walked over to Eren, who was lying on the ground and moaning in pain. After eyeballing him, he called in an assistant, who slung the injured boy over his shoulder and walked back in the direction of the infirmary. Annie watched tensely as Eren was walked off, unaware that she was wringing her hands together. Bertholt noticed the uncharacteristically nervous behavior from the normally stoic blonde and let out a sad sigh.

"Alright. That is an example of what not to do while using 3DMG! Kirstein, your turn! Don't piss anyone else off today or else!" Shadis shouted.

"Oh fuck no! I am not getting into one of those death-traps!" Jean retorted.

"That's it! Kirstein, latrine duty for the next week! Insubordinate little shits like you need to learn to shut your mouths!" Shadis admonished. He then turned his piercing gaze toward Annie, Bertholt, and Reiner. "Now, since you three were having such a good conversation while I was giving you valuable instruction, let's see how much you actually paid attention! Leonhart, Hoover, Braun, step forward!"

Annie, Reiner, and Bertholt all exchanged a nervous look before walking up to Shadis. He handed them all their gear, and watched as Bertholt and Reiner nervously fumbled around with their's, while Annie studied her's. Annie fastened the gear into place, and waited for inspection. Not long after, Reiner got his gear fastened on as well. Bertholt continued fumbling around with his, growing more embarrassed the longer he took. Shadis inspected Annie and Reiner, then looked them in the eye.

"Leonhart, tighten your chest belt. Having a loose chest belt could seriously injure you from whiplash. Braun, adjust the position of your gear. It's too high up. It's supposed to sit around where the small of your back meets with your hips, but yours is at your waist. Otherwise, not bad, either of you," Shadis indicated. "As for Hoover..." he added, glancing over at Bertholt who still had not gotten his gear on.

Annie removed her jacket to readjust the chest belt, and caught Bertholt staring at her as she adjusted it.

"Do you mind?" Annie said in an irritated tone as she put her jacket back on. Bertholt looked away nervously and resumed struggling with his gear.

Shadis inspected Annie again and gave her the sign that she was clear to go. "Go to the same tree Ackerman is in. If you need assistance, she will provide it."

_Oh, I'm so sure she'll help me._ Annie rolled her eyes before launching her grappling wire out to the tree. It made contact with the tall trunk, and immediately she felt the tension in the wire. She triggered the wire to begin retracting, and was soon launched into the air. She zoomed over the forest floor and then began curving upward as she approached the tree. Once her grappling wire had almost fully retracted, she unsteadily swung over to a branch at the same level she was. Mikasa, who was a meter or so above Annie, glared down at the other girl but didn't say anything. Reiner, who was waiting for Annie to safely land in the tree, began his practice run and landed about half a meter below her.

"Excellent job! You three have done well for your first time using the gear. Now, clear out before the next few trainees try! For every person as good as Ackerman we have five people who as bad as Jaeger! Being around people as bad as that can get you injured easily as well!" Shadis barked.

Annie, Mikasa, and Reiner all slid down the tree and dispersed back into the crowd. Mikasa went back to Armin while Reiner chose a spot closer to the front of the crowd, ready to help Bertholt if necessary. Annie, meanwhile, began walking in the direction of the infirmary to see if Eren was alright. It felt strange for her to be concerned with another person's welfare, but she didn't question her decision to go check on him.

* * *

Once inside the infirmary, Annie spotted Eren lying on a cot. His head and chest were bandaged, and he had noticeable bruises on his arms and a black eye. He was moaning in pain and clutching his sides. Annie nervously walked over to Eren's cot and sucked in her breath.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh, hey Annie," Eren said weakly.

"You had quite the fall," Annie said in a patronizing tone, crossing her arms.

Eren laughed a little until it became a hoarse cough. "Yeah...I apparently busted up a couple ribs and gave myself a concussion. The medical officer said I was lucky I didn't get hurt any worse. How did the rest of practice go?"

"After my turn I decided to skip. It gets old watching people get tangled or land on their faces after a while," Annie replied. She then added quietly "Besides, I was worried about you..."

Eren seemed to perk up a little in response to Annie's remark. "What? Annie Leonhart was concerned about someone other than herself? I'm shocked."

Annie slugged Eren in the shoulder and then smiled a little. Eren yelped in pain and grasped his shoulder. "What was that for!?"

"That was for making me worried about you, idiot!" Annie teased. She then sat down on the bed next to Eren and watched as he readjusted. She looked at Eren and felt herself blush as she smiled faintly at him. Eren managed a weak smile back at Annie.

"Did Horse Face get called out by Shadis?" Eren asked, snapping Annie out of her thoughts.

"He mouthed off to Shadis and is on latrine duty for the next week," Annie replied, slightly annoyed by the change of topic.

Eren's eyes flashed wickedly. "I hope someone eats something absolutely disgusting this week! He has to suffer!" Suddenly Eren pressed into the cot and moaned.

"Don't move so much. One of the most important things I learned from training is that if you don't give the body time to heal you'll pay for it later," Annie lectured.

The two paused as the doors to the infirmary opened. Marco entered, limping with blood soaking his right pant leg. Behind him were Sasha and Connie, leaning on each other. Both had bruises and scratched covering their faces. The three claimed cots in different areas of the infirmary and pulled up the privacy curtains. Suddenly, Annie felt something grabbing her hand. She looked down and saw it was Eren, who was holding her hand in his.

"Thanks for coming to visit me, Annie. It really means a lot to me to have such a thoughtful person in my life..." Eren sighed.

Annie looked at Eren sadly. _I wish I could be what you think I am, but I'm not. I'm just a coward and a warrior who's failing at her duty._

"Annie, there's something I want to tell you," Eren began softly. "I...think I like you."

Annie stared blankly at Eren. "I like you too. We're friends after all."

Eren sighed. "No, not like that. I like you like you. I'd like to be your boyfriend."

Annie gasped and started blushing. _No. I can't say anything. I'm a warrior first, and even if I do have feelings for him I can't let that cloud my thinking._ But before she could stop herself she blurted out "I think I like you too."

"Heh, really?" Eren asked, smiling. "This is great!"

Annie remained silent and just continued to stare at the injured boy. _I can't believe I admitted that to him. I __shouldn't__ have admitted that to him._

Eren closed his eyes and sighed happily. "Once I'm feeling better, we'll talk about this more, right?"

"Of course," Annie said quietly, still somewhat shocked by what she had said. Eren let go of her hand and looked up at her, a dopey grin on his face.

"See you tomorrow?" Eren yawned.

"Sure," Annie replied, walking away from Eren. As Annie headed toward the doors, she bumped into Mikasa, who had a couple of Eren's belongings in her arms.

Mikasa stared at Annie, clearly unhappy to be in her presence. "What are you doing in the infirmary? You didn't get hurt, and neither did Bertholt or Reiner."

Annie looked up at Mikasa, disinterested and eager to leave. "I was visiting a friend," Annie said in an emotionless voice.

"You were trying to see Eren, weren't you? I've told you before; I don't like you being around him. The last thing he needs in his life is someone like you," Mikasa accused.

Annie clenched her fist. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Someone who only cares about themself. You never seem interested in what happens to other people and I honestly don't think you care about other people at all. I'm convinced that you're just leading Eren on by pretending to care about helping him get better at combat," Mikasa growled.

It would have been very tempting to punch Mikasa, but instead Annie just walked away. "I'm done here."

An hour later Annie was in her clearing, throwing a fit. Branches and logs were thrown across the clearing, leaves scattered everywhere. Mikasa had some nerve to accuse her of being someone Eren didn't need in his life. Annie slumped down to the forest floor and hid her head behind her knees. _Mikasa...if I ever get the chance to kill you I will. I'll crush your pathetic face with my bare hands._

She realized how worked up she had become, and breathed in slowly, hoping to calm herself down. One wrong move now and she could change into her Titan form, which would blow her cover. Reiner and Bertholt would have to continue the mission alone, and she'd be forced into hiding. _Maybe_ _I'm not a good person for Eren to associate with. I'm a warrior before anything else. If I become involved with him, he would just get in the way and could get hurt...or worse..._

Annie reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out the picture of her family. She stroked the image with her thumb and let out a sad chuckle. "I wish one of you were here to tell me what to do in this situation. I know I like Eren." Annie paused for a moment, letting what she had admitted to herself sink in. "But I can't get distracted from my mission by personal feelings...I guess that's my answer then. He'll just get hurt if he becomes too close to me."

Annie got up and began walking back to the barrack. Once she stepped inside, she heard a strange noise coming from one of the bunks. She looked for the bunk the noise was coming from, and spotted two different sized arms and three feet sticking out from the sheets. Annie yanked the sheet off, exposing Hannah and Fritz. Naked.

"Oops," Annie said sarcastically.

Hannah turned bright red. "Aah! Annie! Give us that sheet back right now!" she shouted.

The few other girls in the room, including Ymir and Mina, all turned to look at what was going on.

"Hahaha! Look at Fritz! He's so tiny!" Ymir burst out laughing.

Fritz turned beet red and grabbed the nearest object he could find to cover himself, which turned out to be Hannah's bunkmate Ruth's pillow. Fritz held the pillow to his crotch and hobbled out of the barrack awkwardly. Hannah, still naked, gave Annie a furious look.

"Hey Fritzy, be sure to wash that pillow off before you give it back to Ruth. I'm sure she would appreciate her pillow to not have your ball sweat all over it!" Ymir called as Fritz shut the door to the barrack.

"Give me that!" Hannah spat as she yanked the sheet out of Annie's hands.

Annie walked away from Hannah and climbed up to her bunk. Mina grinned at Annie.

"What you did to Hannah and Fritz was pretty good! I was gonna say something but I didn't have the guts to!" Mina whispered.

Annie didn't respond, and fell back on her pillow with a heavy sigh. Mina frowned and scooted over to her bunkmate. "Hey, is everything okay? Are you upset about Eren getting hurt during training? I know how close you two have gotten. Whenever I sit with them in the canteen he always mentions how excited he gets from training with you and how glad he is that he's met you."

Annie remained silent for a while, before finally sitting up and saying in an emotionless voice. "Eren said that he likes me."

"Eeek! Annie, this is big news!" Mina squealed. "Do you like him back? Are you two gonna get together? Have you guys kissed?"

"I can't be with him," Annie interjected in her emotionless tone.

"What? Why not?" Mina asked, disappointed.

Annie tucked a stray hair behind her ear and looked down. "I just can't."

Mina moved away and sighed. "You shouldn't write it off completely now. He might get really hurt if you just say no and don't tell him why."

Annie looked up at Mina with a blank expression. "He's just a boy. There will be others. My mind is made up."

_That's a lie and you know it_, Annie thought angrily as she looked down again. _You know you want to be with him. It's unfair that Hannah and Fritz get to be together when I can't be with the person I have feelings for! _Annie leaned back against her pillow and sighed sadly. _At least, I won't let myself be with him._ _Maybe Mina has a point for once. I shouldn't ignore the possibility of having a relationship with Eren. I should at least let myself give it a chance._


	11. Chapter 11: Commitment

**Author's Notes: Alright, so this is going to be a rather long note section, and I apologize. You can skip over this if you want, but I sort of want to explain a couple things that have been going on recently.**

***If you want to skip, disregard this whole paragraph* I was originally planning on updating on Monday, and I'm sorry for going (for me at least) a while between updates. But, anyways, I wasn't able to write for about four days because I have severe Carpel-Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand, which is unfortunately my dominant hand. I sometimes get mild flareups if I've been writing or drawing for a long period of time, but for some reason the flareup I had this past week was really severe. I could barely move my fingers because it hurt too much. Its been getting better as the week has gone on, thankfully, so I was able to get back to my writings. So, I'm sorry this chapter is on the shorter side. I also want to say sorry if there are any grammar errors or if its sort of clunky to read. I usually edit a few hours prior to me uploading new chapters, but I've been really distracted today because I found out this morning that one of my closest friends had a medical emergency and may have to be hospitalized. Writing normally helps me get my mind off of stuff that happens but I'm just so worried right now about my friend that its hard to focus on anything else.**

**Ok, if you skipped my mega paragraph the gist is that I screwed up my hand and I couldn't write for a while, so I'm sorry. I do want to say thank you to KingKunta for his very nice shout-out in the last chapter of his story and for cheering me up while I couldn't write! You're so nice and awesome and I'm glad to have you as a friend on here! I also of course want to thank the rest of you for your continuing support of this story! I cannot express my gratitude for your support and encouragement enough. And finally, onto the main action of the chapter! We have some pretty big developments in this one so I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Commitment

_I never anticipated developing feelings for anyone on this mission, and it still shocks me that I have. What seems even stranger is that it's been weighing on my mind so much, and how I'm actually trying to plan out what to tell him. But, whatever happens, the other two cannot find out about this, that I actually have feelings for someone... -Annie's Journal_

Eren's confession had been on Annie's mind for days. It still seemed very surreal that she cared for someone like him. Someone who she'd only known for a few months at this point. Someone who, in all likelihood, would join the scouts and be killed on an expedition. Why should she care about him if she knew anything between them would end in less than two years?

Today was the day Eren was set to return to training. He'd been discharged from the infirmary a couple days ago but with strict orders to not engage in any strenuous physical activity. Even now, he was only allowed to participate in one training session per day and he had to report back to the infirmary as soon as the session was over. He had healed remarkably quickly, but the infirmary staff agreed it was for the best to limit his activity until they were certain he had completely healed.

The morning session had just been an overview of proper 3DMG usage, and the afternoon was an armed combat drill. Annie had partnered up with Armin for the day, since her usual partner was unavailable and most of the others considered Armin too weak to spar with.

"Annie, can you please go a little easy on me? I'm not as good at combat as Eren or Bertholt or Reiner are..." Armin whimpered, shaking.

He looked absolutely pathetic. The wooden dagger he was armed with was bobbing around as his arm trembled. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, and his eyes were wide with fear.

"I don't go easy on anyone," Annie replied coldly. "Going easy on an opponent is a sign of weakness. Even if your opponent is far weaker than you are."

In a flash Annie had delivered a swift kick to Armin's shin and now the boy lay sprawled out on the ground, his dagger in Annie's hands. He sighed disappointedly as she placed her foot on his back.

"You weren't kidding about not being good at this, Armin. I expected you to at least put up some resistance..." Annie muttered.

A few people took notice of Annie's quick takedown of Armin and had begun to crowd around the two. Annie released Armin, who quickly jumped back to his feet and stood by Reiner. Bertholt smiled at Annie, and then looked away when she noticed. Jean, meanwhile, began laughing loudly.

"Way to go Armin! Good job getting the shit kicked out of you by one of the smallest girls here!" Jean laughed.

As soon as he stopped speaking Annie's fist collided with his face. She then proceeded to knee him in the gut, causing Jean to collapse to the ground, clutching his stomach with one hand and holding his head with the other. A stream of blood began dripping down from Jean's nose.

"Holy shit Annie!" Reiner gasped in shock at her attack.

Annie knelt down in front of Jean and grabbed his sand-colored hair and tilted his head up, forcing him to look at her. "Don't underestimate me next time, Horse-Face Bastard," she spat before walking off.

"Jean!" Marco called, running across the training field to his friend.

Marco and Reiner helped Jean back onto his feet then walked with him to the infirmary while Bertholt trailed after Annie. She had begun walking in the direction of the male barrack, intending on seeing Eren before the evening training session. The tall, gawky boy ran up to her and started walking beside her. She looked up at him and frowned menacingly.

"Why are you following me!? What do you want?" Annie demanded.

"Can we talk, just for a little while?" Bertholt asked.

"First, tell me what you want. I told Eren I'd come see him sometime this afternoon, and if you know what's good for you, you'll let me go and won't bother me," Annie growled.

"I just need to speak to you for a minute. I promise I'll be brief," pleaded Bertholt.

Annie sighed and stopped walking. She then turned to face Bertholt. "This had better be quick, or else you'll end up like Jean."

"Do you like Eren? I always catch you staring at him, and I've seen you smile at him more than I've ever seen you smile at anyone else," Bertholt began awkwardly, a note of sadness in his voice.

"And what if I do?" Annie asked in a low tone.

Bertholt's eyes widened and he appeared almost on the verge of tears. "So, it's true?"

Annie nodded. Bertholt held his head low and avoided Annie's gaze. For a minute the two stood on the path, avoiding looking at each other.

"Alright. Just...be careful..." Bertholt said finally, breaking the awkward silence. "Don't forget about why we're here and who you are, Ann." He then turned around and began walking back to the training field.

"If you fucking tell anyone about this, I'll kill you Bertholt Hoover!" Annie shouted after Bertholt. She then sighed and shook her head. For some reason the conversation had left her with a feeling of guilt. It had been uncomfortable to see one of her only friends so upset. _Why did he react like that? Whatever, I shouldn't worry about it, _she thought, shrugging_._

* * *

Eren was sitting on the steps to the boys barrack and jumped up excitedly when he saw the short blonde girl approach him. He ran up to her and gave her a hug, then leaned back and gave a wide grin.

"Hey!" Eren said excitedly. "We can't go into the barrack to hang out since girls aren't allowed in here anymore. Apparently something happened where two of the others were caught having sex in the girls barrack. Now we're not technically allowed to be alone together unsupervised."

Annie laughed a little. "That must have been Hannah and Fritz. The day you got hurt I walked in on them."

Eren burst out laughing. "Oh my God! Really!? What'd you do to them!?"

"I did what any responsible recruit would do. I forced Fritz to leave the bunk and reported him to our commanding officer," Annie replied.

"Oh, I beat up Jean during the drill today. Figured you'd like to know that."

Eren's green eyes lit up at the news of what happened to Jean. "Horse-Face deserves it! How badly did you hurt him?"

"I think I broke his nose. But, it'll heal eventually," Annie shrugged. She then turned to Eren and said in an emotionless voice "Have you told anyone about our conversation from a few days ago?"

Eren seemed a little surprised by the question. "No, I haven't. I figured that it would be better to not mention it much. You can imagine how Mikasa would react if she found out. Why, did someone ask you?"

Annie froze up. She could mention Bertholt confronting her, but then Eren would probably become upset and just get himself hurt all over again. "No. I was just curious," she said softly.

Eren's smile returned and he grabbed Annie's hands. Annie sighed. "So, what are we exactly?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"Are we a couple or aren't we?" Annie replied bluntly.

"Oh, of course," Eren chuckled nervously. He then cleared his throat and looked Annie in the eye. "Annie Leonhart, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Sure," Annie said in a calm tone.

"Sure?" Eren asked, bemused.

"Sure," Annie repeated.

Eren seemed puzzled by Annie's lack of excitement. "Well, that was underwhelming. Do you feel any different?"

"No," Annie said.

"Neither do I," Eren added. "Oh well. So, do we just go back to how we always act around each other, or do we act differently?"

Annie slugged Eren in the upper arm and smiled. Eren rubbed the spot where Annie had hit him, and looked at her. "So I guess this means we act like we always do?"

"Yes," Annie replied. "And also, when we're sparring, don't expect me to start going easy on you just because you're my boyfriend. In fact, expect me to be even harder on you."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Damn, I thought that being your boyfriend would spare me from the endless cycle of being beaten up by you," he said sarcastically.

Annie chuckled. "Oh, but it's so fun!"

"For you at least," Eren groaned. "At least let me win once!"

"Maybe. Someday," Annie replied, traces of a sly smile on her face.

The two walked back to the steps of the barrack and sat down beside each other. Eren smiled at Annie contently. The blonde moved closer to her new boyfriend and rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contently.

"We'll be the best couple ever! We'll both be soldiers and can go off on missions together! We can take down Titans together and destroy them all, together!" Eren enthused.

"It always comes back to Titans with you," Annie sighed. "You're such a romantic, Eren," she added sarcastically.

"You're hardly a romantic yourself," Eren replied.

Annie reached over and flicked Eren's head, making him scowl. _It feels so odd to think that I actually have a romantic relationship. But, I may as well enjoy it while it lasts. This might be one of the few chances I'll have to act like a normal person._


	12. Chapter 12: Dreams

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating for a little while, I've just been really busy the past two weeks, its seems like everything has been happening lately haha. Two big announcements before we get this chapter going. First, I graduated a couple weeks ago! Yay, now I'm done with school for two months, then I have another five to eight years more of school...the cycle never ends. Second, this story has passed 4000 views! I seriously cannot believe how many people have been reading this story, its amazing and I am so grateful for your continued support! And finally, I want to say thank you to those of you who sent me messages when I hurt my hand and when my friend was sick. We're both doing much better now, thankfully, and it means so much that people were concerned about me and my friend. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much it brightened my day when I saw people were concerned about us. Now, without further ado, here's chapter 12!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Dreams

_Dreams often serve a purpose by providing a glimpse into our subconscious. They may seem prophetic sometimes, or they may play out as past events. They can make our fears more apparent to us, or provide a motivation for our waking lives. -Annie's Journal_

_The dark-haired man was holding Annie tightly, crying into her shoulder. A few others were standing by, watching the goodbye. Reiner and Bertholt were there, watching nervously. Both were quite a bit shorter than they were now, and Reiner was less muscular. Behind them stood a young woman a little taller than Annie with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair._

_"Annie, remember that the world is your enemy," the man sobbed._

_Bertholt looked out the window of the house nervously. "We should really get going now."_

_"Let them have their moment," the other girl said dismissively. "They've always been very close."_

_"The world is your enemy. They may turn on you and hate you for what you are," the man began before breaking down into more tears. "But your father will always love you!"_

_Annie sighed sadly and wrapped her arms around her father and buried her head into his neck, tears forming in the corners of her eyes._

_"I love you too, Dad," she whispered._

_"Please promise me that you'll come back someday," her father said softly._

_Annie didn't reply. She knew her mission could prevent her from ever returning home, and could even cost her life. But she had committed to it, and would follow through with it until the very end._

_A knock came on the door to the house and two other adults stood in front of the door. One was a tall man resembling Bertholt, the other a shorter man with long dark hair and glasses._

_"Hanschen," the tall man started. "It's time to say goodbye to your daughter. The children have to set out now, or else we cannot begin the mission."_

_"Shut up Ivar! You probably haven't even said goodbye to your son yet!" Annie's father spat. He then released his daughter from his embrace and got up from his seat. He pulled a book off of the nearby bookshelf and handed it to her. "I got this for you the day I found out you would be leaving. I want you to remember your life here, with me and the rest of our family. Promise me you'll remember everything here and that you won't forget about me."_

_Annie looked at the book. It was an expensive-looking leather-bound journal with pages and pictures sticking out of it. She took it and set it in her new canvas sack, then slung the sack over her shoulder. "I will, I promise."_

_Her father bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek and pushed back her bangs from her face. "Promise me you'll take care of yourself," he choked, attempting to hold back more tears. "And please promise me you'll come back."_

_"I will Dad," the young girl said quietly, feeling herself tear up._

_The group of children began walking through the door, with Annie bringing up the rear of the group. At the doorframe, she turned around and smiled sadly at her father, who was already crying again._

* * *

Annie gasped as she awoke from the dream. She looked around and saw that she was in the girls barrack at the training grounds. It was still night-time, and everyone was asleep. Mina was snoring softly in their bunk, Ymir and Krista were cuddled together under their sheets, Sasha was drooling on her pillow, and Mikasa was sleeping soundly. She lifted her hand up to her eyes and felt some dampness. She'd been crying in her sleep again.

"Shit..." she muttered as she wiped the tears away from under her eyes, eager to hide her emotions from the group.

She climbed down the bunk and walked outside, hoping the fresh air would get her back to a calm state. _I can't fucking believe I had that dream again...I made a commitment to my mission. I can't think about going home._ Annie sighed deeply as she sat down on the steps of the barrack. The air outside was warm and carried the smell of blooming plants. _Spring. I've always hated spring..._

Suddenly a thudding noise came from the direction of the boy's barrack and the door to the barrack slammed open. Annie flinched at the noise and hoped whoever was out there wouldn't notice her. She couldn't quite make out which boy had come outside, but he was crying loudly, making her flinch again. _Please don't notice me, please don't notice me..._She got up from the steps and quietly turned to go back inside, but the sobbing boy apparently noticed her movement.

"Who's there!?" the boy shouted, startled.

Annie recognized the voiced and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Eren, it's just me."

"Annie?" the boy asked, walking over to her.

Annie leaned against the side of the female barrack as Eren approached. He had a short-sleeve shirt and shorts on, with a frantic look on his face.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked uneasily once he reached the front of the barrack.

"I had a bad dream and needed to clear my head," Annie replied. "What about you? You look awful."

"I had a nightmare and I needed to get some fresh air," Eren muttered, tears streaming down his cheeks. "It was so frightening! I-I was a monster! And my Dad was there and trying to give me an injection!"

Annie felt herself shudder. In their past conversations Eren had mentioned his mother frequently but rarely mentioned his father. All she really knew about him was his name and that he had disappeared around the time that Shiganshina fell. But whatever had happened with him had left Eren terrified, and the boy was now hysterical from it.

"Eren, it was just a dream. It can't affect you," Annie sighed, attempting to console him.

"Annie, it was so vivid! It felt almost like I was reliving something! I don't want this to be real!" Eren cried before falling back against the outside wall of the barrack.

"Sometimes nightmares can be vivid like this. They don't have to mean anything," Annie sighed.

Eren took in a deep breath and then sighed. "You're probably right. It's probably nothing. It just...I've had this dream before and every time I have it, it gets more and more vivid."

Annie looked away. "I understand the feeling."

He looked over at Annie sympathetically. "What was your dream about?"

"The day my Dad and I were separated," Annie replied in barely more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry that you were thinking about that. I guess since it's been about three years since Shiganshina fell we must both be thinking about it..." Eren mumbled.

"It will have been three years next Monday," Annie said vacantly.

Eren sighed and slumped down against the wall. "I can't believe it's been that long. So much has changed since then."

"Neither can I," Annie said quietly, moving closer to him. "Did you ever imagine you'd be here before Shiganshina fell?"

"Honestly, I did. I always wanted to get out of the walls and see what the world is like outside. Of course my Mom didn't really like the idea of her son joining the scouts," Eren laughed sadly. "What about you? Did you want to join the military when you were a kid?"

Annie struggled to find the right words to say. If she said too much, Eren would find out and probably report her. If she lied, he would be able to tell. "My Dad raised me to be a warrior. I've always seen it as a duty," she answered finally.

"Once we're done with our training I'm set on joining the scouts. I can do the most good for humanity by joining them," Eren said as his feral look began creeping back onto his face. "I'm going to kill all those Titans! I'll destroy them once and for all, and no one else will be hurt by them again! Humanity can be free again!"

"You're so naive sometimes," Annie sighed. "Even if you do manage to accomplish that goal, humans can be monsters as well. There will always be another threat."

Eren looked at Annie, shocked. "Don't you want to be free Annie!? And if we can defeat the Titans we can take on any human threat as well!"

"Of course I want to be free, Eren!" Annie blurted out. She then stopped and sat silently, trying to compose herself again. Finally she resumed speaking. "But it can't happen."

Eren grabbed Annie's hand and looked her in the eye. "I promise that someday we'll all be free. And I will never break my promise."

Annie looked back at Eren sadly but decided to humor his notion of freedom. "How do you suppose things will be once humanity free?"

"We'll all leave the Walls for good and create new towns and cities like in Armin's old book. We'll explore the world and see everything it has to offer! Fields of snow, lands completely covered in sand, the ocean-" Eren described.

"The ocean?" Annie asked, cutting him off.

"According to Armin's book it's a gigantic area of salt water," Eren explained.

"Seems hard to believe something like that could exist," Annie scoffed.

"Yeah, it does, but I'd still like to see if it actually does exist," he said smiling. "And of course I'd invite you on all the adventures I'd go on!"

"Thanks, but I'm not really one for adventures. I just want to find my place in the world and settle somewhere," Annie replied, allowing herself to be honest with the boy.

"Well then I'll find a place to settle with you! I don't want you to not be a part of my life," Eren insisted.

Annie blushed and smiled a little. "Eren, we've only been together for five months. It seems early to be planning our entire future. But, I'd like you to be a part of my life in the future as well."

Eren leaned in closer to Annie and tilted his head slightly. Annie did the same and closed her eyes. Soon, his lips were pressed against hers. The two opened their eyes and jerked back suddenly.

"Ah! Um, so," Eren began awkwardly.

Annie didn't say anything back and looked away, shocked by what had just happened. Her first kiss, something she had never anticipated experiencing, with Eren Jaeger.

"A-are you okay with this happening?" Eren asked nervously, snapping Annie back to reality.

She turned back to face Eren and nodded slowly. "You, you kissed me..." Annie muttered, unsure of how to react.

"Sorry I ruined the moment! It was stupid of me to think you'd like this," Eren apologized nervously.

"I didn't say that I didn't like it, idiot," Annie said, blushing. "It just surprised me."

Eren seemed to perk back up after hearing that she hadn't been completely put off, and smiled again. Annie got up from the ground and turned toward the door.

"You know, we've been talking for a while. We should try to get some rest before training starts in the morning."

"Oh, yeah probably," Eren said, getting up and walking down the steps. "Thanks for putting up with me. I really appreciate it."

"Good," Annie replied. "Oh, and Eren? If you tell anyone about anything that happened tonight I'll bash your face in."

Eren laughed nervously. "That's fair. See you in the morning!"

Annie entered the barrack again and began walking over to her bunk. On her way over she caught a glint from someone's eyes in the low light of the barrack. Everyone except Mikasa had slept through her and Eren's talk, and now she probably knew everything. Annie and Mikasa locked eyes as she climbed back into her bunk, then Mikasa rolled over in her bunk and pulled her blanket up. Annie sighed and smiled, nothing else mattered right now, not even Mikasa. For the first time in years Annie felt genuinely happy.


	13. Chapter 13: Caught

**Author's Note: Wow its been a while since I updated this. I'm sorry, I've been really busy the past few weeks. I won't bore you all with the details but I've been traveling and preparing to move. Yes, I'm moving in a little over a month! As such, I'm going to do my best to get this story to a decent point because I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update in August. So, ideally, I'll be updating this once during the week and once during the weekend until I have to get ready to move. As always, I want to thank you all for your continued support and for your patience! I saw that the story has passed 5000 views and 30 favorites, and it means so much to me that you are all enjoying this! Thank you, this story would be nowhere near what it is without your feedback and encouragement.**

**Anyway, this chapter is going to have a bit of a different focus. Yeah there will still be Eren and Annie romance but I also wanted to get some of the other character's reactions and opinions in. Plus jealous Mikasa. It wouldn't be an Eren x Annie story without jealous Mikasa. So, without further ado, chapter 13!**

**P.S.: I recommend you check out my friend KingKunta's prompt story "Falling with Style". You may recognize who the first prompt is from. :P**

* * *

Chapter 13: Caught

_The others have caught on to one piece of information I hoped they wouldn't find out thanks to a certain someone. Now they'll almost certainly begin questioning if I'm fit to carry on with this mission, which I am. I won't let anyone get in the way of this, even Eren. -Annie's Journal_

"Annie," a high-pitched voice said. "Annie! Get up!"

The girl opened her eyes slightly and saw Mina hovering over her, then groaned and buried her head under her blanket.

"Come on Annie! You'll be late to breakfast if you don't hurry up! You don't want Shadis to find out you were late to another meal, do you?" Mina urged.

Annie lifted the blanket off her and glanced around the barrack. Most of the other girls had already left for breakfast, including Mikasa. _Shit, Mikasa's already gone._ _She saw you come in late last night, and she probably overheard you and Eren-_

"Get off, Mina!" Annie growled as she quickly threw on her hoodie and boots.

"You're still in your pajamas..." Mina began.

"So? Half the time people don't even bother to change out of their pajamas until the morning training block," Annie muttered, climbing down the bunk, Mina following her.

The two girls entered the canteen and chose seats near Bertholt and Reiner, who had already grabbed their portions of porridge and eggs. Reiner was devouring his food while Bertholt just picked at his a little, avoiding looking at Annie.

"I'm surprised that Miss Leonhart has decided to grace us with her presence when she could be sitting with her boyfriend!" Reiner chuckled through a mouthful of food.

"Shut up!" Annie whispered menacingly to him.

"Reiner please don't talk when you have food in your mouth," Bertholt murmured.

"Um, I'm going to grab some food. Annie, would you like to come with me?" Mina asked nervously.

Annie nodded her head and got up from the table. The two walked over to the serving station and picked up their morning rations. Annie looked up and saw Eren at the station.

"Hey," he said, smiling faintly.

"You look exhausted," Annie commented.

"Yeah, it was a long night," Eren chuckled. "Plus this morning some of the guys were giving me a hard time about last night."

Annie's eyes widened. "No one knows about what happened between us last night, do they?"

"No, as far as I know. They were just mad at me for waking them up," Eren assured her.

"If anyone finds out you're in for the beating of a lifetime, Jaeger," Annie said.

The two went back to their respective tables and sat down. Annie began eating her porridge but caught Reiner laughing.

"What is it?" Annie asked, annoyed.

"Oh nothing. Just the beauty of young love!" Reiner laughed.

Annie picked up her fork and pointed it at Reiner. "Say one more word and this is going in your hand!"

Annie went back to quietly eating as Reiner finished off his food. He then looked over at Bertholt, who had barely eaten anything.

"Aren't you going to eat, Bertl?" Reiner asked, concerned.

"Oh, no. I don't have much of an appetite," Bertholt sighed. "If you want any of my food help yourself."

Annie looked up at Bertholt, who continued to avoid her gaze. Things had been tense between the two since he found out that she had feelings for Eren, and if he found out about their kiss last night things would only get worse.

Suddenly, Shadis stormed into the canteen, giving the recruits his death-glare. Annie felt herself shudder at his appearance and saw Eren get a fearful look in his eye. The two exchanged a worried glance then saw Mikasa trying to hold back a smirk.

"It has come to my attention that two recruits last night were engaging in misconduct! Need I remind you shitheads that this is a training facility for your future in the military, NOT A PLACE FOR YOU TO HOOK UP!" Shadis shouted. "JAEGER, LEONHART, YOU ARE BOTH NOT ALLOWED TO BE SEEN WITH EACH OTHER FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS! This means no training together, no sneaking off together, no sitting together, and no talking to each other! Additionally, Jaeger you are on latrine duty for the next week! Leonhart you are on kitchen duty for the next week! Do I make myself clear!?"

Eren stood up and saluted Shadis. "Yes sir!"

"Leonhart! I said, do I make myself clear!?" Shadis shouted at Annie after her failure to salute.

"Yes, sir," Annie muttered finally.

"Good! At ease!" Shadis replied as he exited the canteen.

The canteen was eerily silent as the recruits tried to process the information they had just heard. Soon a quiet drone settled across the canteen as people began discussing this information.

"Annie interacting positively with anyone? I thought that was impossible," murmured one recruit.

"Who'd want to date Eren? He's so unstable," another added.

Annie banged her head against the table and let out a loud groan. This was embarrassing, no, it was mortifying. If it was possible to die from embarrassment she would be dead.

"Mikasa! Did you tell Shadis about this!?" Eren yelled from across the canteen.

"I did," Mikasa replied calmly. "It was for your own good, Eren."

"Agh! I'm so pissed off right now! You embarrassed me in front of everyone!" Eren shouted, slamming his fist down on their table.

"It isn't fair. How come some psycho like Eren gets a girl while I can't?" Jean complained to Connie and Marco, causing the two to snicker.

"What was that, Horse-Face!?" Eren growled at Jean.

"You heard me, Suicidal Bastard!" Jean retorted.

"Seems like a perfect match if you ask me: Suicidal Bastard and the biggest bitch in the whole 104th!" Connie laughed.

Annie looked up and walked over to Connie, glaring at him. "What did you just call me?"

"Oh, uh, nothing Annie! Nothing at all!" Connie lied, stumbling over his words.

The boy had made a grave mistake, as he was now on the receiving end of a punch to the jaw from Annie.

"Ow! What the hell!?" Connie yelped, feeling his jaw.

Annie hovered over him, continuing to glare at the table. Jean and Marco began laughing at Connie, who was now holding his jaw slack and trying to determine how badly he was injured.

"I can see it now, Connie! They really are perfect for each other, two violent psychopaths who go around fighting innocent people!" Jean taunted.

Eren let out a guttural yell and raced over, tackling Jean to the ground. The two boys then began exchanging blows, Eren punching Jean in the face while Jean kicked him in the gut. Bertholt and Reiner walked over to the fight and began attempting to break it up. Reiner attempted to lift Eren off of Jean, but Jean was digging his nails into Eren's scalp, making it difficult. Bertholt meanwhile was trying to pull Jean out from under Eren, but Eren's legs were wrapped around Jean's torso.

"Can we get some more help?" Bertholt called out.

Fritz and Thomas, two of the largest boys after Bertholt and Reiner, ran over to help break up the fight. Eren and Jean continued shouting unintelligible profanities at each other as Reiner and Thomas finally got Eren off of Jean. Annie caught a look at Eren's face and could see his feral look was back, meaning he was still ready to fight.

"You freaks! There's something wrong with both of you!" Jean shouted, scooting away from Eren. Blood was dripping from above his eye and the corner of his mouth, and his left eye was swollen.

"Jean! We need to get you to the infirmary!" Marco urged, helping his friend up.

Marco and Jean exited the canteen, followed by Thomas and Fritz. By this point most of the other recruits had left, leaving only Eren, Bertholt, Reiner, Annie, Armin, and Mikasa.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Eren raged as Reiner restrained him tighter.

"Not yet buddy. We need to get Jean out of here first," Reiner replied calmly.

"Let me go after that Horse-Face bastard! I'll destroy him!" Eren shouted, spitting as he said the words.

Annie walked in front of Eren and looked him in the eye. "Eren, you need to calm down. Now."

Eren continued to breathe heavily and glared at Annie. Soon the look in his eyes began to fade and he started to calm down. Blood was dripping from his scalp and saliva was dribbling out of his mouth.

"Eren!" Mikasa cried, running over with Armin. "Eren, how badly did you get hurt?"

"Not too badly," Eren said hoarsely, grinning. "Jean got it a lot worse."

Reiner released Eren and stood back. Mikasa grabbed her adopted brother and pulled him into an embrace, stroking his hair and crying softly into his shoulder. Annie watched the display and felt an unease at the way Mikasa was handling Eren. She watched as Mikasa let Eren go but continued to hold his hand. Annie felt her heart begin to beat faster and a sense of unease creep over her. Mikasa was enjoying getting to do this with Eren.

"Mikasa, move," Annie said. "I'm saying goodbye to Eren before you take him to the infirmary."

"You heard Shadis's orders. You two aren't allowed to be together," Mikasa replied bluntly.

"I'm not asking for your permission to say goodbye to him," Annie retorted.

Annie glared at Mikasa, who unhappily stepped aside. "Make it quick, I don't want to get in trouble for this."

"I showed Horse-Face!" Eren said triumphantly. "No one will get away with insulting you."

"I could have handled it myself, Eren," Annie replied quietly.

"Well, now he knows better than to mess with us," Eren said.

"You'd better recover quickly so we can go back to training," Annie replied sternly.

Eren laughed. "I'll try my best. See you later," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"See you later," Annie replied, blushing slightly.

Mikasa shot Annie an irritated look before walking Eren out, Armin following behind them. Bertholt and Reiner looked down at Annie, who was still blushing.

"I never thought I'd see the day where you didn't try to beat someone for touching you like that!" Reiner said, grinning. "It's cute!"

"What did you just say?" Annie asked menacingly.

"You and Eren are cute together. And hey, if you of all people can get into a relationship maybe I have a shot with Krista!" Reiner joked.

Annie punched Reiner in the stomach, causing him to crumple over. Bertholt, acknowledging Annie for the first time all morning, began to speak.

"He deserved it."

"Who?" Annie asked.

"Reiner. His taunting was getting old," Bertholt replied in a monotone. "Annie, it's dangerous to get involved with someone here, especially someone like Eren. You need to end things before they get too serious, we can't let anyone get too close."

"I won't let him get too close," Annie muttered.

"It's impossible to do that while you still have feelings for him. That's why you need to break it off," Bertholt said morbidly. "If he finds out anything about who we are and why we're here its game over. I want as few people getting mixed up in this as possible. We're already responsible for so many deaths, I don't want to add Eren or any of the others to that total. Anyway, I need to go."

Bertholt frowned slightly and nodded to Annie and Reiner as he walked off. Reiner, still on the ground, began snickering.

"What is it?" Annie asked, looking down at him.

"Ereannie. That's going to be your couple name! I just came up with it!" Reiner laughed.

Annie scowled and stomped on Reiner's hand, causing him to stop laughing and cry out in pain. She walked out of the canteen and began heading up to her hollow, mulling over what Bertholt had said. _I can keep Eren out of this. I can keep him safe from this. I just need time to figure out how._


	14. Chapter 14: Past

**Author's Note: So, here it is, my last chapter before my month-long posting hiatus. I don't move for a couple more weeks but I want time to be able to prepare and to spend some time with my friends, since I'm going to be living several states away from all of them soon. I'm still going to reply to PMs and I will still accept Beta requests, but I will not be publishing anything new until the very end of the month. In other news, I recently had the opportunity to go to the second-biggest anime convention in the country which was amazing! I found out so much about the future of Attack on Titan, including information on the movie, the anime, and the manga! I'm not going to say much here, but I'm very excited for the next couple of years!**

**As for the chapter, I really wanted to write more Mikasa-Eren-Annie drama for all of you but I really wasn't feeling it whenever I tried to write it, so this chapter is going to focus a lot more on the relationships between the Shifter Trio, since I really enjoyed writing their interactions in the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy, even though the focus is a little different, and I'll see you all at the end of the month!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Past

_Today is the day...the anniversary of the Fall. I...today is always a hard day but there's so much more guilt! I'm still not technically allowed to see Eren but I...God! The guilt is eating away at me! I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle! -Annie's Journal_

Today marked a grim anniversary for humanity. Exactly three years ago, the Shiganshina District had been breached and Wall Maria had fallen to the Titans. Exactly three years ago, over a third of the remaining population of humans had been killed. Exactly three years ago, three people who were barely more than children became responsible for the deaths of thousands of people and the displacement of even more.

The recruits had been assigned to complete a survival drill in the forest this day, to replicate conditions they might face if they were to become trapped outside the walls. They were supposed to start alone but could group up with other trainees once the drill had started. Annie and Reiner had come across each other within the first ten minutes of the drill, and were currently searching for Bertholt.

"Bert! Buddy! You out there?" Reiner called. "Annie, maybe you should try calling him too. He might answer for you."

"I doubt it," Annie said in a low tone. "Things have been awkward between us since the incident last week. You've been too oblivious to notice."

"Oh, that? He's still bothered by that?" Reiner asked as he began laughing. "Damn, I didn't think he was that bothered by the Ereannie!"

"Shut up!" Annie hissed, punching Reiner in the stomach. "I hate it when you call us that!"

Reiner crumpled but continued laughing, irritating Annie more.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Eren's brought out a side of you I haven't seen in years! You're actually displaying some emotion around people!" Reiner explained. "It's nice to see you actually being open about things for once!"

"So? What's the big deal if I'm more emotionally open?" Annie asked.

"I dunno, it's just nice," Reiner said, shrugging.

"Meanwhile you're just as obnoxious as ever," Annie snorted.

"Oh come on, I bet I was worse when we were kids!" Reiner teased.

Annie paused and chuckled lightly. "I still think you're worse now."

Reiner rolled his eyes at her and laughed again. The two resumed trekking through the forest, occasionally stopping to call for Bertholt. The morning wore on and soon it was the early afternoon, still with no sign of their friend.

"Hey, Ann, do you hear that?" Reiner whispered after hearing some voices nearby.

Annie nodded and the two walked closer to where the voices were coming from. They could make out three figures through the trees, but couldn't see much detail through the thicket. Once one of the figures spoke Annie gasped, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Eren! You need to calm down!" Mikasa insisted.

"No! Mikasa they're still out there! They destroyed our home and they're still out there!" Eren cried.

Annie began clenching her fists, wanting to run over to them, but she restrained herself.

"What's he going on about? He was fine when we left the barrack this morning," Reiner asked.

Annie turned to Reiner, a vacant look in her eyes. "Three years ago today was the day Wall Maria fell..."

Reiner's eyes widened and his face grew pale. "Oh God...no! We were just doing what we were told to do! I didn't want to do it!"

"If I ever find the Colossal Titan I'll kill him with my bare hands! He destroyed everything!" Eren raged.

"Bertholt..." Annie muttered.

"I'll kill him! I'll kill them all! I won't stop until every last Titan is destroyed!" Eren screamed through the thicket.

Suddenly there was a loud thud and a yelp from Eren. Annie began walking in the direction of the others but Reiner grabbed her wrist, preventing her from going to them.

"Let me go!" Annie spat.

"You can't!" Reiner pleaded. "I need you here with me!"

Annie's gaze softened and she moved closer to Reiner, causing him to drop his hand. The panicked look on his face began to disappear and he sighed sadly.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

The two moved away from where Eren and Mikasa were, then crouched down on the forest floor. Reiner folded his hands and put them up to his mouth, while Annie glanced over him. She hadn't seen Reiner get this agitated about the Fall since it actually happened, it was strange to see the most easy-going member of their group break down like he had. _Maybe hearing someone so upset about it triggered something..._she thought.

"Annie," Reiner began.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Thank you for staying with me. I...I really appreciate it. I don't know what I would have done. I've never felt anything like that..." Reiner sighed. "I know you wanted to go to Eren, and I'm sorry that I stopped you but-"

"Its fine," Annie replied.

Reiner deeply inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm himself down more. The two sat in relative silence for the next hour before Bertholt finally joined them.

"Bert! There you are!" Reiner called.

"Where have you been?" Annie asked as he crouched down with them.

"Alone. I needed some space today," Bertholt replied flatly.

"We saw Eren and Mikasa...they were talking about that day..." Reiner said quietly.

"Reiner had a panic attack because of it," Annie added.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to go after Eren and Mikasa, since you seem to care more about Eren than us now" Bertholt said bitterly.

"Shut up Bertholt!" Annie hissed. "I still care about you two!"

"Guys please, knock it off," Reiner mumbled, holding his head.

"I'm not the one putting our whole mission at risk for the sake of some person I met less than a year ago!" Bertholt retorted.

"I am not putting our mission at risk! I want to be able to go home as much as you two do!" Annie insisted.

"Then why are you so insistent on seeing Eren whenever you get the chance? He's a distraction!" Bertholt spat.

"He isn't a distraction! I'll keep him out of the way!" Annie retaliated.

"Why do you keep insisting on seeing him!?" Bertholt demanded angrily.

"Guys! Enough!" Reiner urged.

"Because he makes me happy!" Annie shouted. She paused, catching her breath. "He has made me feel happier than I've been in years. I haven't been happy since we were still in the village and I didn't think I would ever feel that way again. But he actually has made me feel something other than numb and depressed."

Bertholt looked at her and snorted, then looked away. Reiner sighed and shook his head, while Annie started at the ground, shocked by what she had shared.

"Ann-" Reiner began.

"Forget it," Annie said, cutting him off. "Forget I said anything."

The three remained awkwardly silent for the rest of the afternoon. Reiner began gathering wood for fire once the sun started setting and Annie began to set up the tent she had found earlier in the day. Bertholt remained on the sidelines, avoiding the others. Reiner constructed a fire pit then lit the fire, which all three gathered by.

"Do either of you have food?" Reiner asked.

Annie shook her head, and Bertholt remained quiet. Finally, he sighed and reached into his bag, pulling out a small sack of dried meat and bread.

"Here," Bertholt said. "Take some."

Reiner took a piece of the meat and bread and hungrily devoured it. Bertholt held the sack out for Annie, who refused to meet his gaze.

"You need to eat. You won't have enough energy to make it back if you don't," Bertholt insisted.

Annie took a piece of the bread and meat, then took small bites of the food.

"Does this remind you guys at all of when we camped out before coming here?" Reiner asked through a mouthful of bread.

"You're speaking with your mouth full again," Annie muttered.

Reiner laughed loudly and smiled. "Sorry!" he swallowed and continued. "I remember how it was the three of us and Marcel, out in the wilderness like this, just having a good time a being kids."

Annie smiled faintly. "Those were some of the only times my dad would let me leave home. He said it was good preparation for being in the wilderness once we left the village."

"Those were fun times, I wish they didn't have to be something that ended," Bertholt said nostalgically.

"They don't necessarily have to end. I mean, we could turn tonight into one of those nights," Reiner suggested.

"I like that idea," Bertholt said.

Annie nodded in agreement. Reiner smiled at the other two, causing Bertholt to smile as well.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you earlier. I think the stress of today just got to me," Bertholt said, looking at Annie.

"It's fine," she replied. "I can tell it's bothering you that I'm with Eren, but I'm not going to end things with him any time soon unless I have a reason to."

"I understand. I guess as long as he doesn't get mixed up in this it's alright that you're seeing him. The fewer people involved, the better," Bertholt replied.

Reiner grinned. "Now we're all getting along again!" he cheered, pulling Bertholt and Annie into a tight hug.

"Reiner, get off!" Annie said, jabbing him with her elbow.

"Nope! We're all getting along and happy, just like old times! We're staying like this as long as I can help it!" Reiner enthused.

Bertholt and Annie exchanged a look. He did have a point, this could be their last night where everything felt normal again. Bertholt began laughing along with Reiner, and soon Annie joined in. They might as well enjoy the evening, their mission and seriousness could wait a little while.


	15. Chapter 15: Future

**Author's Notes: I'm back! I apologize for my hiatus being more like almost three months rather than just a month, but college has slowly taken over my life. Additionally, there's been a lot of personal issues for me in the past month and a half, so I've been trying to recover from all of that. Anyway, I'm really sorry about the long delay between chapters and I promise it'll be a much shorter time before the next chapter is up.**

**As for the chapter, I decided to do a time-skip to help speed up the action, because with my current plan this story will only end up being between 25 and 30 chapters, so yeah, consider this the halfway point! This is another chapter that's heavy on the interactions between Annie, Bertholt, and Reiner but I'll get back to the Eren-Annie interactions soon.**

**And finally if you enjoy this story I encourage you to check out my other two stories for Attack on Titan: "Simple Joys" (a collection Levi x Petra one-shots), and "Schadenfreude" (a Ymir x Krista college AU which I just started). See you again soon!**

* * *

Chapter 15: Future

_It seems like everything has changed since I joined the military almost three years ago. I had always imagined that our mission would be simple, just go in and find the Coordinate with causing as few casualties as possible. But it's become more than that, all three of us have bonded with the other members of the Trainees Corps and formed strong relationships with them. We've made friends, had romantic relationships, and seen the people around us grow. It's strange to think that in just a few weeks it will all be over, and we'll be selecting our permanent military branch. -Annie's Journal_

The final weeks of the 104th Trainee Corps had finally arrived. After three years of grueling training, the group of around a hundred and twenty teenagers had become highly skilled members of humanity's last defense against the Titans. With the end near, final evaluations were being performed to determine each recruit's graduation rank, however most of the recruits could guess what their eventual graduation rank would be at this point.

Today was the first day of the final 3DMG evaluations, focusing on technique. The recruits were to locate plywood models of Titans and cut the nape of the model's neck in the quickest and most effective way possible. To make the simulation more realistic, the models had necks made of three layers of leather with an additional thick layer of wool below.

Shadis droned on about the importance of being aware of the environment, boring many of the recruits. Annie blinked and began to look around at the other recruits, attempting to pass the time. She spotted Eren and locked eyes with him, giving him a little nod. Eren smiled and nodded back, but was then elbowed by Mikasa. Over two years of dating and Mikasa was still irritated whenever Eren tried to be friendly with Annie in her presence. Annie rolled her eyes at Mikasa and went back to focusing on Shadis. Finally the lecture was over and the evaluation could begin.

"Listen up brats! For this simulation you have been placed in randomly assigned groups! When you hear your name called, step forward and wait for your group to join you!" Shadis barked. "Springer, Braus, Kirstein, Leonhart, Hoover! Step forward! You'll be group one for this evaluation! Jaeger, Ackerman, Bott, Lenz, Ymir! Step forward! You'll be group two for this evaluation! Braun, Arlett, Carolina, Wagner..."

Annie and Bertholt walked over to meet the rest of their group for the drill. Jean looked away, annoyed with his assignment while Connie and Sasha started poking each other and laughing.

"Why did we have to get paired with the most immature people?" Annie whispered to Bertholt.

Bertholt shrugged. "Think of it as a test of your patience."

The recruits were then handed their harnesses and began to prepare for the drill. Annie looked over at Eren, who was busy talking with Mikasa.

"Wish you were working with him?" Bertholt asked.

"No. I'm just thinking about what will happen after we're promoted," she replied quietly.

"He's still set on joining the Scouts?" Bertholt asked, interest piqued.

"Yes, and you know what I'm doing after the promotion," Annie said, looking away.

"You two had a good run," Bertholt muttered.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Annie demanded.

"Just...it doesn't make a lot of sense to me for you two to stay together when you're going to be joining different branches of the military, especially since the Scouts have the highest mortality rate," Bertholt explained.

"What happens between the two of us is our business, not yours," Annie spat.

"Recruits! Start the drill NOW!" Shadis commanded, and the recruits took off into the trees.

* * *

_"It doesn't make sense for you two to stay together..." _Annie thought, dwelling on Bertholt's words from this morning. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point about Eren joining the Scouting Legion. Eren's brash personality combined with the high mortality rate meant that in all likelihood he would die. _It might be better to just let him go._

She sighed and looked up. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the results of the evaluation, curious to see where they placed in 3DMG efficiency. She spotted Eren among the crowd, and gave a brief wave to him. Eren looked over and smiled at her, then began walking over.

"Hey! Aren't you going to come see where you placed in the evaluation?" he asked curiously.

Annie sighed and looked away. "Not right now."

"Is everything alright? You like kind of upset," he questioned, concerned.

"It's nothing," she mumbled.

Eren tried to meet her gaze but she continued to look away. "Are you sure?"

"Eren!" Annie snapped. "I'm fine! I want to be alone for a while is all. Just leave me alone."

She began walking away, kicking the dirt as she hurried off. "Annie! Annie wait up!" Eren called after her.

She stopped as Eren caught up to her. "I already told you, leave me alone. I need some time away from everyone, including you."

"Annie?!" Eren asked, voice crackling from emotion.

Annie refused to turn around and continued off into the forest, anger building up inside her. _Don't look back, you'll just get more upset_. She hurried off toward the hollow where she and Eren would train, and sat down on one of the logs they had turned into a seat. She let out a long sigh and rubbed her eyes.

_If I let him go he won't have to get caught up in the next stage of our mission. I can keep him safe as long as possible. I can avoid having him get mixed up in this._ She took a breath in and looked up through the branches of the trees. The sun was starting to set, and everyone was expected to report to the canteen for dinner tonight so a final headcount could be performed. She'd have to face Eren again. He had probably told Mikasa about her avoiding him, and Mikasa would be ready to fight with her for making him upset.

_I have to tell him sooner or later that it might be for the best if we end things,_ Annie thought, feeling a tear begin to form in the corner of her eye. She wiped it away and sighed sadly. She couldn't believe that Bertholt's point was affecting her this much. _No, I won't do anything yet. He might be wrong. I'll ask Reiner what he thinks before I talk to Eren._

She got up and walked back to the canteen, then quietly took a seat next to Bertholt and Reiner. The two started at her as she tried to compose herself.

Reiner exchanged a look with Bertholt before he began to speak. "Hey, Ann, are you alright? You look kind of flustered."

"I have a lot on my mind," she replied quietly.

"Bert told me that you did pretty well on the 3DMG evaluation. He said that you placed third overall out of 150," Reiner mentioned, trying to lighten the mood.

"That's great," she muttered.

Reiner placed his hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and look up. "What do you want?" Annie demanded.

"What's going on? Is the promotion bothering you?" he asked.

Annie let out a sigh, deciding it was time to tell the others what was bothering her. "I suppose you could say that's it. Bertholt pointed out this morning that it might be better to let Eren go before we're promoted. I'm not sure why it's bothering me so much."

Reiner reached over and slapped the back of Bertholt's head. "You idiot! Why'd you tell her that!?"

"Ow!" Bertholt yelped. "I thought she should know!"

"Yeah well it's probably not the best that you were the one to tell her, considering your-"

"Shut up Reiner!" Bertholt snapped, cutting him off.

"He does have a good point, as much as I hate to admit it," Annie said quietly. "Eren won't be attached to me anymore, and he won't have to get caught up with our mission."

"You're really feeling that way?" Reiner asked, sort of stunned. "You love him though."

Annie blushed and looked down. "What makes you say that?"

"The way you act around him and how you worry about him. If you didn't love him you wouldn't be so concerned about making sure that he doesn't get caught up in our mission," Reiner explained. "You said it yourself years ago, he makes you happier than you've ever been since we left the village."

"But if she stays with him she'll be putting him and possibly several others at risk! Remember, we want as few casualties as possible!" Bertholt interjected.

"There are going to be casualties anyway! There have already been thousands! What difference would it make?" Reiner demanded.

"We might be exposed! Our whole mission might become jeopardized! Besides, how would you feel if you played a role in the deaths of anyone here?! You've told me several times that you see many of the people here as your friends, do you want to be responsible for their deaths!?" Bertholt shouted.

"No! No, I can't be! I won't be! I'm not a monster!" Reiner denied.

"Enough Bertholt!" Annie snapped, hitting him. "You two need to quiet down before you attract any attention! Just stay out of my personal life!"

"Your personal life could end up fucking up our whole mission!" Bertholt shouted, exasperated. He gasped and held his hand to his mouth, eyes widening.

Annie and Reiner gave their comrade a shocked look, neither of them had ever seen Bertholt lose his temper like this. Annie snorted and turned toward the door of the canteen. "I'm done with you, Bertholt. What I decide to do is my own decision, not yours. Don't ever speak to me again."

She walked quickly out the door and off in the direction of the forest, tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them off with the sleeve of her jacket and ran off into the thicket.

"Good job, you might have just fucked up our mission on your own," Reiner growled at Bertholt before going out after Annie.

Bertholt sighed sadly and burrowed his head in his hands. "Good going Bertholt...you've alienated your best friend and the girl you love," he muttered to himself.


	16. Chapter 16: Separation

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Being back in school has sort of taken time away from my writing, and also I've just been trying to spend time with friends since I didn't see any of them during my winter break. Anyway, I'm also sorry if the quality for this chapter isn't as good as usual, like I said I've been busy and haven't had too much time to edit, but I felt bad about going so long without updating and wanted to post something.**

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Chapter 16: Separation

_Bertholt had a point. I can't believe I'm admitting this but he actually had a valid point. Eren would probably just get in the way. Our mission, unfortunately, has to come first. -Annie's Journal_

Reiner crunched through the thicket, searching for Annie. He had seen her disappear into the forest but due to her small size she was able to slip past branches that he couldn't easily get through. The sun was setting, and he wanted to find her before the evening curfew, which she had already broken three times this month.

"Goddamnit Annie, you can't break curfew again," he muttered to himself.

He paused to listen and see if he could hear something and heard the cracking of tree branches and frustrated shouts.

"Annie?" he called, waiting for a response. "I'm coming over to you, is that alright?"

There was no response, but Reiner continued to follow the sounds of the cracking branches and shouting. Within a few minutes, he found Annie's clearing, where she was kicking and punching a dead tree with a piece of paper pinned to it.

"Go away," she growled.

"I will, I just wanted to check that you were okay," he said quietly.

"I'm fine. Leave me alone Reiner, I don't want to talk to anyone right now," Annie replied flatly.

"What Bertholt said tonight was out of line. He shouldn't have done something like that," Reiner added.

Annie looked up and stopped attacking the dead tree. She inhaled deeply and walked over closer to Reiner.

"So you agree? He was out of line?" Annie asked.

"Yes. He shouldn't have said what he did. We're trying our best to ensure there are as few casualties as possible, he has to remember that," Reiner sighed.

"But what do you think about what he said before? About Eren and I?" Annie inquired.

Reiner sighed sadly and looked away. "Bertholt...Bertholt had a reason why he said that. He-he's concerned about you and what happens with you. He cares about you a lot."

"Why does he care so much about me? He knows that I can look out for myself, he knows that I did for years when I was a kid," Annie pressed.

"Do you really want to know?" Reiner asked nervously.

"Yes. Tell me," Annie insisted.

Reiner rubbed the back of his neck and glanced down. "He loves you. He's loved you for years."

Annie looked at Reiner, shocked. "No. No, he can't. I don't love him, I don't love anyone anymore."

"You love Eren," Reiner suggested.

"No. I don't know what it's like to love anyone. The only time I ever remember hearing it EVER was when we left. You know that the rest of my family stopped seeing us after my mother died, I never heard it from them. My siblings went away after she died and I only saw them once or twice after that day, and I never heard it from them. My dad is the only person I even suspect loves me," Annie ranted.

"That's not true and you know it! Eren loves you, he tells us all the time! Bertholt loves you and tells me how he thinks you are the most beautiful girl in the world! I love you like a sister! Please, believe us, we care about you and love you!" Reiner insisted. "And you love us!"

"How can you tell?" Annie asked, rolling her eyes.

"You're prepared to let Eren go to ensure that he stays out of our mission, and you've stayed with me and Bertholt even though we've fought with each other countless times," Reiner replied.

Annie sighed and turned her gaze away. "What do you think I should do with Eren? I hate admitting this, but Bertholt had a point, it might be better to end things with Eren."

"Honestly, I do agree with him. The human cost is too great and I would feel like more of a monster than I already do if I were responsible for the deaths of anyone we've become friends with," Reiner said quietly, voice breaking. "But, it's your decision, I don't blame you if you decide to stay with him."

Annie nodded her head and walked away. "Then I think I've made my decision."

"You're going to end things with him?" Reiner asked cautiously.

"Yes," Annie said quietly. "I'll wait until after we're promoted, but that night I will."

"Are you going to stay in touch with him at all?" Reiner asked.

"I don't see why I can't, at least initially," Annie replied in a monotone.

Reiner put his hand up to his mouth and quietly nodded his head. "I think whatever you decide, it will be the right decision."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I'll be back before curfew, don't worry."

"Are you going to speak to Bertholt?" Reiner asked before turning back.

"No," Annie replied bluntly.

"I understand. I'll see you later in the evening," Reiner said, waving as he walked away.

Annie sighed deeply and slumped down onto one of the log benches. _I'm going to let him go, _she thought. _I'm going to let Eren go. I want him to be safe, and not to get caught up in our mission. What's happened to me?_

Annie reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out her journal, then began flipping through the pages. She stopped at a new note she had added and touched the corner of it. It was a note Eren had given her on the anniversary of when they started dating. She sighed sadly and smiled faintly. _You made me happy for these past few years, so thank you. _She then flipped through more pages and found an old picture, worn down from years of being stored improperly. Her, Reiner, Bertholt, their deceased friend Marcel all together as children, smiling. _I have to choose them. I've known them for years and we've stuck together. I'm sorry Eren_, she thought, still smiling sadly.


End file.
